Known for his "typical bluntness" and serving as the "powerful chairman" of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee,[4] Rotem has worked on issues of religion and state.

An Orthodox Jew, he has conducted negotiations regarding the conversion and civil partnership bills, two laws his party promised to pass, mainly to benefit immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

[6] Civil marriage advocates, who note that this law affects approximately 30,000 Israelis, view it as a positive development they hope that may will lead to "more far-reaching legislation.

Critics called this legislation racist and discriminatory, since it would allow communities to deny residence to applicants based on their gender, religion, or socioeconomic status.

Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, noted that Rotem said he intended to solve the problem of conversions, but in a move that the diaspora though was "sleight-of-hand," Rotem inserted an amendment making conversion subject to the Israeli chief Rabbinate, an institution viewed as hostile to the Jewish diaspora.

Richard Jacobs (rabbi), president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said Rotem's bill was stopped because "Jewish federations and denominations leaned heavily on Prime Minister Netanyahu."

[11] To avert what The New York Times called a "crisis" in the relationship between Israel and the diaspora, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he would delay this legislation which "could tear apart the Jewish people."

"[14] The director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abe Foxman labelled Rotem's comments "inappropriate, offensive and unjustified," and demanded a quick and unequivocal apology to Reform Jews.

When publication of the remark created an uproar, Rotem wrote to a critic: "Indeed, this comment was a mistake, and I intend to rectify it at the upcoming meeting of the committee on Sunday."

The executive director of the Reform Movement in Israel, Gilad Kariv, he explained to Rotem why the term "another religion" was so disturbing to non-Orthodox Jews.

"Beyond the obvious reasons, this is a legal term that appears in the Law of Return, where it says that a Jew who practices 'another religion' is not eligible for aliyah, and that is very significant," said Kariv.

"[17] In August 2014 Rotem joined several other right-wing MKs in sponsoring a bill that would make Hebrew the only official language of Israel.