1.   Brown acknowledged the anger the conversion bill has caused, and said the bitter feelings among Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews would make compromise difficult.

2.   For them, the conversion bill delegitimizes their brand of Judaism.

3.   He said he would introduce a conversion bill granting exclusive control to the Orthodox for its second and third readings next week.

4.   It is not clear whether Parliament will act now on a conversion bill or will delay a vote until a new Parliament is elected in May.

5.   Netanyahu has defended the conversion bill, saying it only formalizes the status quo.

6.   Now that Orthodox parties wield significant clout in the Israeli government, the current conversion bill is considered to stand a good chance of passing.

7.   Religious members of Parliament could hold up approval of the budget if the conversion bill were not approved.

8.   The angry protests by the Conservative rabbis underscore how the polemics over the conversion bill have been transformed into nothing less than a question of who is a Jew.

9.   Orthodox legislator Avraham Ravitz said his United Torah Judaism party would still pursue the conversion bill but agrees to the delay.

10.   A year after the government was formed, parliament passed a conversion bill in the first of three readings.