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According to Prof. Benjamin Ish-Shalom, head of Jerusalem-based Beit Morasha's Center for Judaism and Society, there are 90,000 children up to age 18 who grew up in Israel, received an Israeli education, and have Israeli names -- yet because they were born to new immigrant parents, they aren't considered halakhically Jewish.

That statistic is one of the reasons why, in order too create a culture that is more welcoming to potential converts, the Center for Judaism and Society established the Israel Institute for Conversion Policy at its annual conference on July 4.

The new institute "promotes an open and accepting approach to conversion within Jewish law and trains Orthodox rabbis to serve as moderate conversion court judges," in contrast to city rabbis who under the authority of the Chief Rabbinate strive to annul conversions conducted by the State Conversion Authority, a trend that Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky cited at the conference.

Ish-Shalom explained in a phone interview with The Jewish State that the "classical" halakhic approach of considering descendants of Jews "Zera Yisrael" (seed of Israel) and treating their conversions with an inclusive, welcoming, and friendly approach that takes their background into account has been "neglected by rabbis [in Israel] over the decades." Based on Israel's Law of Return -- which grants Diaspora Jews and their offspring citizenship upon making aliyah -- that inclusive approach should be applied to descendants of Jews up to three generations back, Ish-Shalom said.

"We want to bring this approach back to the table," he said.

The conversion institute will encourage new halakhic research and publications on conversion, push favorable legislation for converts, and run a public relations campaign that Ish-Shalom said will create a "public lobby" on behalf of converts.

"By creating a new halakhic approach within the establishment and encouraging a debate about the issues, we can influence the halakhic authority of the rabbinic establishment in Israel," Ish-Shalom said.

"Zera Yisrael" also happens to be the title of a new book on conversion by MK Rabbi Haim Amsalem of the Orthodox Shas party. Amsalem conducted comprehensive research on all aspects of halakhic conversion and supports a more welcoming approach than the Chief Rabbinate, Ish-Shalom said. "Zera Yisrael" is exactly the type of publication that the conversion institute will promote, he said.

As far as conversion goes, the primary challenge of the new wave of immigration to Israel is the absorption of more than 300,000 former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants who are not halakhically Jewish, Ish-Shalom said. It is hard to measure exactly how many of the FSU immigrants actually want to be halakhic Jews, but Ish-Shalom estimated that among all demographics, there are between 150,000 and 200,000 willing conversion candidates in Israel.

"We think that the state of Israel is responsible for them to ensure their future as Jews without any obstacles or other problems," Ish-Shalom said.

"We should accept and welcome them without too many demands," he said.

The most important converts to assist are young families, soldiers, and children because "they will determine the future of the state of Israel," Ish-Shalom said. The idea of rejecting the conversions of children who grew up in Israel but were born to immigrant parents doesn't make sense because those children "have no other culture or religion" besides Israeli culture and Judaism.

"Their identity is Jewish," Ish-Shalom said.