If democracy falters, women are in big trouble

Women desperately need the justice system to protect our fragile rights. But does anyone in Israel actually care?

During the 2014 war in Gaza, then-MK Moshe Feiglin told then-MK Aliza Lavie that “this is not the time” to be discussing issues like sexual abuse, gender equality, or “flowers and rainbows.” We were, after all, at war. Women can wait.

Those words are echoing in my head today as women’s well-being is once again considered unimportant in the face of the fight for democracy in Israel. Despite the fact that women are one of the most at-risk groups if the new religious-right coalition has its way, you  wouldn’t know it from following the public discourse. The weekly anti-government protests that have attracted some half a million participants focus on judicial reform – without mentioning the threats to women. And last week, when it was discovered that one of the leaders of the protest movement is himself accused of sexual harassment, the response in the movement is that this is a hatchet job to weaken the resistance. As opposed to, say, legitimate claims by women.

Some of the crowd at Sunday’s protest to protect women in Tel Aviv. Signs read, “A govt without women is not a coincidence”, “Against cancelling the position of gender consultant of the army director general”, and "The high court protects women” Credit Moti Milrod

In response, a large coalition of women’s organizations organized a protest in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, where current and former Knesset Members, party leaders, and celebrities spoke passionately about the threats to women in this coalition. But the low turnout – a tiny fraction of the regular crowd – followed by general lack of interest in the issue is very worrying. Once again, women are being thrown under the bus in the name of other issues. There always seems to be something more pressing than women’s well-being.   

Certainly, the current government is terrifying to anyone who values democracy and human rights. The movement stirring to protect the judicial system is vital to protect democracy. But let’s remember that one of the groups most in need of judicial protection and most threatened by the proposed judicial reform is women.

The legal system in Israel has been crucial for protecting women’s legal, economic, and religious rights in the face of forces looking to impose a theocracy in Israel. This is not so far off. In rabbinic courts, for example, which control all Jewish marriage, divorce, and conversion in Israel, women are chained to the halakhic system that deprives women of equal exit power in divorce. Moreover, it is only thanks to judicial intervention have recently gained the rights to sit on religious councils or the committee appoint judges or in the front of the bus. As Attorney Nitzan Shiloni of the Center for Women’s Justice wrote, “Women are already disadvantaged by the law, the religious establishment does not protect us, and the political power of the haredi sector has repeatedly eroded our freedoms. Without an independent Supreme Court that can rule favor of women’s rights, who else will stand up for us?” The Supreme Court is one of the few tools that citizens have to protect basic freedoms.

Moreover, under coalition agreements, the exclusion of women is set to become legal – not just in ultra-Orthodox concerts but everywhere. According to a proposed bill by MK Moshe Gafni, everyplace from national parks, supermarkets, health clinics, buses, municipal conferences, educational setting, and public transport will legally be able to exclude women, or penalize us for how we dress.  

MK Moshe Gafni credit: Flash 90

This has already been happening in Israel. I’ve been asked to move my seat on a plane so as not to “offend” a man with my presence. I was also on a hike with my daughters when a group of ultra-Orthodox men asked us to leave so they could have the place to themselves. It was awful. And yet the men felt completely normal about the request. And why shouldn’t they? Their political parties exclude women, their radio stations exclude women, and some of their streets continue to exclude women.

But now, excluding women and telling women to cover our bodies is not just normalized – it may also become legal. In my 2014 book, The War on Women in Israel, I documented the many areas in which women’s lives are threatened by misogynistic religious radicalism, and the grave impact it has on women’s freedom to live and move and thrive. Since then, certain aspects of this problem were resolved, such as Supreme Court rulings banning women’s exclusion from buses, funerals, and other areas. But we are witnessing today is a dangerous regression that may be worse than anything we have witnessed before. Because for the first time, these oppressive practices may actually become the law.

In addition, the cultural context in Israel often still supports ultra-Orthodox demands for the exclusion of women. “Leave them alone; it’s their culture,” is a common refrain among Israelis supporting gender segregation. Many Israelis fail to understand that gender segregation is not about protecting religious rights or even about protecting women from men. It is about silencing and excluding women from public spaces, removing women’s bodies and voices from the landscape so that men can have a women-free zone in which to fully operate. It is not freedom but oppression.

Moreover, this alarming legal and cultural support for the exclusion of women is happening at a time when women’s interests are radically underrepresented in the government. The coalition of 65 has a paltry 8 female members, none of whom has taken on gender equality as part of her agenda, and some of whom are decidedly anti-feminist – such as Likud MK Tali Gottlieb who made a career out of defending accused rapists by attacking victims, or MK Orit Struck who has become the unofficial  mouthpiece for the homophobic Noam party. In addition, women are vastly underrepresented on the municipal level with only 15 female mayors compared to 241 men. And in one of the most invisible but striking exclusions, there are currently zero women working as Director-Generals of government offices, for the first time in decades.

This underrepresentation means that issues of importance to women will not be heard, certainly not in this government which is dominated by religious parties for whom the formal exclusion from leadership is still astonishingly legal. Issues such as domestic violence, sexual abuse, and gender wage gaps are far from the public agenda. For women in marginalized communities, the problem is even worse. Of the 22 women murdered last year in Israel, 11 were Arab – and 84% of those cases remain unresolved. As activist Ani Sundus Alhut said at last night’s protest, “Murderers of Arab women are running free, and we ask ourselves, do our lives matter at all to this government?”

Women’s representation is also crucial for other issues. According to the UNDP, when women have a seat at the table in locations of decision-making, there is more creative problem-solving, better processes, increased innovation, more profit, and greater likelihood of reaching peace agreements.

Yet, the urgency of gender issues is far from the public discourse. There are always issues more pressing – again. But we would be wise to remember that for democracy to thrive, we need to protect women’s rights, and we need women to be represented and heard. 

As Rachel Stomel of CWJ says, “Women and minorities are the canary in the coal mine when it comes to the functioning of a democracy. We must pay attention, fight back, and understand how these abstract-sounding ‘reforms’ will affect our lives in very tangible, devastating ways.”

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