11.  Netanyahu needs the support of the Orthodox political parties in Israel to remain in power and has therefore not been willing to cross them on this issue.

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

13.  Now, though, Orthodox parties control the Ministries of Education and Religion, leading Reform and Conservative leaders to worry that government backing will dry up.

14.  Orthodox Jewish parties are planning a mass protest at the site this week.

15.  Orthodox political parties in Israel are pressing for a law to overturn that decision.

16.  Shas, for instance, the rigorously Orthodox party that represents working-class Sephardic Jews, is known to be reluctant.

17.  The government continues to support the Orthodox rabbinate, in part because of the political clout of Orthodox parties.

18.  The secular Israeli government has always given the Orthodox parties and rabbinate de facto authority to regulate all religious affairs and conversions in Israel.

19.  The struggle has become more acute in recent years, as the non-Orthodox movements turned to Israeli courts, while the Orthodox parties gained political strength.

20.  We have many members of this Knesset from the Orthodox Jewish parties who did not serve in the army.