31.   Membership on the religious councils was seen primarily as symbolic for the progressive movements, which attract relatively few followers in Israel but are preeminent among U.S. Jewry.

32.   Meanwhile city offices, regional councils, religious councils, government companies and day care centers were paralyzed, according to the Histadrut Labor Federation that organized the strike.

33.   Netanyahu promised to submit a bill on the religious councils.

34.   New religious councils law threatens to widen rift between Israel, U.S. Jews.

35.   Reform and Conservative Jews were not represented on the religious councils and their synagogues have so far received no public funds.

36.   Religious councils are responsible for overseeing Jewish religious services such as synagogues, ritual baths and supervision of kosher food supplies.

37.   Should a member of the religious council violate the above declaration which he has made, the violation will be viewed as cause for ending his membership ...

38.   Suissa ordered the outgoing head of the Haifa religious council to cancel a meeting of the incoming council he had called for Wednesday.

39.   The bill requires representatives of the Reform and Conservative movements on local religious councils to pledge allegiance to the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate.

40.   The bill seeks to circumvent a recent Supreme Court ruling that ordered religious councils in three cities to accept Reform and Conservative candidates as members.