Speaking at the Ashdod Immigrant Absorption symposium, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated Monday that he opposes the separation of church and say and called on cities to allow local rabbis to create conversions.

"Anyone who claims otherwise is engaging in cheap populism. You can not separate religion in Israel from the state, yet we must give the possibility to the Chief Rabbis of each city to do conversions for themselves. There can not be two hundred thousand immigrants who stay without a nationality in their identity cards, "said Lieberman