Rabbi Gilad Kariv—a pioneering, serious legislator in Israel’s parliament
Not long ago, I was giving a zoom talk to adult members of a Reform synagogue in the USA in which I was trying to explain to them the basics about the complicated and convoluted political system in Israel. When I discussed the political parties which are currently in what is called here “the opposition” (those who are opposed to the parties in the coalition that makes up the government), I mentioned that the party that currently has some of the best parliamentarians is the former Labor Party, now called “The Democrats” (a merger of Labor and Meretz), which is currently comprised of four legislators, the most prominent one being an Israeli Reform rabbi by the name of Rabbi Gilad Kariv.
They were shocked! A Reform rabbi in the Knesset? Is it possible? Doesn’t the Orthodox Establishment forbid this? How and when did it happen in Israeli society in which Orthodox Judaism has so much power? Moreover, I was surprised that they didn’t know about him by now, since he has been in the news a great deal in Israel in recent years and since he made history when he was the first Reform rabbi to be elected as a member of Knesset in 2021.
So, who is Rabbi Gilad Kariv? And why has he become one of the most important members of Knesset in the left/liberal/progressive /humanistic Zionist camp in Israel?
Rabbi Kariv was born in Tel Aviv 52 years ago. He grew up there and became involved with the Reform movement in Israel when he was in high school, through the Beit Daniel synagogue in North Tel Aviv, the main Reform synagogue in the big city, where he later served as a young rabbi. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University and of the Israeli rabbinic program of the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. In addition to being a rabbi, he is a lawyer. He also received a master’s degree in constitutional law from Northwestern University in Chicago, through a combined program with Tel Aviv University.
Between 2003 and 2009, Kariv served as the director of the Israel Religious Action Center, an organization which I know well since I served on its board for five years, representing the Union for Reform Judaism, when Rabbi Eric Yoffie was the president. I have always had great respect for this institution, and I continue to do so.
Following this, Kariv was appointed executive director of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) in 2009, an important and influential position which he held until 2021, when he was elected to the Knesset on the list of the Labor Party. He did a fabulous job as leader of the Reform movement in Israel, helping it to grow and develop in unparalleled ways.
During his first term in the Knesset, he served as chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset during the term of the 36th government of Israel, the Bennett-Lapid government, which was also known as “the government of change.” It was the last sane government that we had in Israel! (We hope to come back to something like it in the upcoming elections.) He became prominent in the Israeli media at that time due to his strong opposition to the plans of the government to eviscerate the judiciary in Israel.
After the sudden collapse of the Bennett-Lapid government in 2022, Kariv helped bring about the merger of the left-wing political parties—Meretz and Labor—into a new party called the Democrats, which is currently projected to be the third largest political party in the upcoming elections (to be held in Fall 2026, if not sooner), according to all of the recent polls in Israel. This is a very important political development in Israel, which needs to be more appreciated and supported (full disclosure: I am now a member of this new political party and am campaigning for its success).
In the current Knesset, Kariv is not only an MK (Member of Knesset) but he also heads the Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs and is a member of the National Security Committee. Without doubt, he is one of the most serious and substantive parliamentarians in Israel’s parliament, which has made him very well known in Israeli society in recent years.
In addition, Rabbi Kariv frequently speaks out in the media with passion, persuasion and persistence on some of the key issues of the day in Israel. For example, he has vehemently opposed all attempts by the current extreme right-wing government to pass anti-democratic legislation in what they call “judicial reform” (which most people in Israel, including hundreds of thousands who have demonstrated against this, call “judicial overhaul or judicial coup.”) In so doing, he has battled vociferously against some of the most fanatic anti-democratic Members of Knesset, including the chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, MK Simcha Rothman, who regularly throws him and other liberal spokespersons out of the committee sessions.
Rabbi Kariv is also forthright and forceful when he speaks from the plenum of the Knesset. For example, a few days after Prime Minister Netanyahu and his lawyers sent their ridiculous and repugnant requests to President Herzog for him to be pardoned in the midst of his trial, Kariv said:
You (the Prime Minister) apologize to Israel’s haters instead of to the bereaved families. Go seek your pardon in Ankara and Doha!
In addition, last week, on December 8, he responded appropriately and with moral clarity to the horrific proposed bill by extreme right-wing MK Itamar Ben Gvir (of Otzmah Yehudit, Jewish Power) to bring about the death penalty for Palestinians from the West Bank by saying:
Otzma Yehudit MK Tzvika Fogel threw me out of the closed-door hearing on the bill that would impose the death penalty on terrorists. My questions to the Shin Bet and the police exposed the web of lies spun by him and by Ben-Gvir. The public needs to understand: this is a cynical and despicable campaign carried out on the backs of bereaved families. It is an immoral and unconstitutional bill, one that would not pass the Supreme Court’s scrutiny, and one that even the Shin Bet doesn’t fully support. And if any further proof is needed, it’s found in the shameful pin that members of Otzma Yehudit wore on their lapels this morning: a yellow noose, a nauseating mimicry of the hostages’ pins. The Kahanists are placing themselves among the greatest haters of the Jewish people, who glorified symbols of death upon their clothing. They are a disgrace.
I agree completely with this statement (see my blog post of last week on this subject: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/about-meir-kahane-kahanism-ben-gvir-and-bibi-ism/ ).
Whenever I hear Rabbi Kariv being interviewed on Israeli radio and television, I am not only very proud (since he is a Reform rabbi and so am I), but I am bolstered and inspired by his statements on current issues, which reflect my Jewish values and visions. For example, he has often spoken of the need to end this horrible Israel-Hamas war — which could have and should have ended months or even a year ago, both for the sake of saving Jewish Israeli lives and Palestinian lives. He is concerned about both and is sensitive to the suffering of both sides in this complex conflict.
We need more people like Rabbi Gilad Kariv in our parliament and in the next government. It is highly likely that the citizens of Israel will vote out the irresponsible leaders who have been running Israel into the ground during the last three years with unprecedented cruelty and commitment to an authoritarian and dictatorial regime, led by a demonic and despotic man. Instead, a sane centrist-left government can be brought to power democratically in Israel in the coming year, with informed and inspiring leaders like Rabbi Kariv—and perhaps even some other liberal rabbis (I have one in mind, but he has not yet announced his candidacy) –taking the reigns of responsibility with reason and rationality, which could bring some sense of normalcy and civility back to Israeli society, and help us become once again a respected member of the family of nations.
(This is the first in a series of blog posts about some of the bright young members of Knesset in the political party known as The Democrats.)
