Israeli funeral homes, run by an ultra-Orthodox Jewish institution on Saturday refused to bury two of the victims of the overnight suicide bombing in Tel Aviv because the victims' parents were not Jewish, Israeli television said.
Orthodox Jewry, which sets procedures for religious matters in Israel, considers as Jewish only those people whose mothers belong to the faith.
The two dead, whose names were not available, were young Russian immigrants.
Many Russian immigrants to Israel, arriving here since the 1990s, count only one family member as Jewish.
Two Russian-immigrant members of parliament, Yuri Stern and Roman Bronfman, expressed outrage at the report.
"There is no limit to this stupidity," said Stern, a member of right-wing Russian-immigrant party Yisrael Baaliya.
"It is scandalous in such a situation to make these distinctions among the victims," said Bronfman, a left-leaning member of parliament.
The two MPs vowed a solution would be found quickly to the problem before the end of Saturday, which is the Jewish sabbath, or day of rest.
Seventeen young Israelis and the suicide bomber died in the blast by a beach club on the Tel Aviv beachfront, which left more than 100 injured.
There are around one million Russian Israelis – JERUSALEM (AFP)
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