1. Women and the 2015 Israeli Election

2. Historical Framing How did Zionist ideology view equality between men and women? In reality, in which ways were women treated equally to men? In which ways were they unequal? makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael

3. Gender Equality in pre-State Israel Zionists in the early 20 th century were influenced by political movements in Europe, especially socialism and communism In general in the early 20 th century, people in revolutionary movements began to internalize different models of male/female interaction Zionists, especially Kibbutzniks, believed in an ideology of equality and comradeship and they aimed to eradicate old traditional roles from Europe that separated men and women (Source: The Jewish Agency for Israel)The Jewish Agency for Israel makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael

4. Women’s Vote in the pre-State Period World Zionist Congress 17 women attended the First Zionist Congress but they did not have voting rights (1897) Many women came as guests of male representatives, but some did come alone Women gained full membership and the right to vote at the Second Zionist Congress (1898) (Source: Jewish Virtual Library)Jewish Virtual Library makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael

5. Gender Inequality in pre-State Israel “It is true that women were equal partners in theory, but when we look more carefully at these narratives, the reality was different. Though equality of the sexes was part of the Zionist credo, in fact, women were discriminated against in many fields, including labor. They were usually required to take ‘women’s jobs’ such as house cleaning, work in the textile industry, nurses and kindergarten teachers […]” (Source: Dr. Bat-Sheva Margalit SternStern) makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael

6. Voting and Representation makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael How do you think having the right to vote demonstrates women’s equality? Have women in the Knesset occupied the same kinds of ministerial roles as men? How does Israel compare to other Western nations in terms of women in government?

7. Women’s Suffrage Comparison makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael

8. Percentage of Women in Knesset makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael (Source: Jewish Virtual Library)Jewish Virtual Library

9. Women on Knesset Committees Until 1984, no women had served on either the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, or the Finance Committee, the two most powerful Knesset committees Women Knesset members tended to be assigned to the more domestic or socially-­oriented committees Over the last 30 years women have become more visible in powerful positions in the Knesset By the eighteenth Knesset in 2011, six women sat on the Finance Committee and two belonged to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (Source: Jewish Virtual Library)Jewish Virtual Library makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael

10. Although the percentage of women in Knesset has increased over the last 30 years, the percentage of women ministers has not. Women in Knesset (Parliament) (Source: Van Leer Institute Gender Index 2014)Van Leer Institute Gender Index 2014 makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael

11. How Does Israel Compare? makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael Percentage of Women in National Governments 1990-2014 (Source: World Bank)World Bank

12. Women and the 2015 Election Recent polls indicate there will be more women in the next Knesset than ever before Polls predict that the next Knesset will have 31 female MKs with 11 of them new to the Knesset Depending on a number of factors, some parties reserve specific seats on their lists for women The ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties are the only two in the next Knesset that have no women on their tickets (Source: Haaretz)Haaretz makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael

13. Women and Israeli Political Parties Which parties have the most equal gender representation on their lists? Which parties do not have any women represented? What factors or beliefs would cause certain parties to exclude or include women? makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael

14. Women on Party Lists makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael PartyPredicted Total Seats Predicted Number of Women to Get Seats Zionist Camp259 Likud235 Habayit Hayehudi154 Shas and UTJ140 Arab Parties122 Yesh Atid103 Kulanu83 Meretz63 Israel Beiteinu62 (Source: Haaretz)Haaretz

15. Haredim and Israeli Politics Haredim (men and women) tend to vote according to how their rabbis direct them As such, Haredim are important politically because they have high voter turnout and tend to vote as a block (roughly 12% of the population) Haredi parties: United Torah Judaism, Shas Major issues: army service, funding Haredi institutions, Shabbat, marriage and divorce, Jewish pluralism, and Kashrut (Sources: KolOleh and Berman Jewish Policy Archive)KolOlehBerman Jewish Policy Archive makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael

16. Haredi Women and the Election Halachic basis for excluding women from parties: Maimonides rules in Hilkhot Melakhim 1:5, that to “all positions of authority in Israel (משימות כל בישראל) one appoints only men” But, Haredi men in Knesset work with non- Haredi women from other parties Without representation in government, Haredi women’s issues are rarely addressed Two responses this election: –Facebook campaign (Lo Nivchorot, Lo Bochorot) –Women’s party ( B’Zhutan) makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael

17. Lo Nivchorot, Lo Bochorot makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael Facebook campaign: No Representation, No Voting Demand: Haredi women want representation on lists of existing Haredi parties or they won’t vote for them Over 5500 likes (including both Haredi women and their supporters) Risk for women participating in campaign: potential excommunication of women and their families (Sources: Jerusalem Post and Lo Nivchorot Lo Bochorot)Jerusalem PostLo Nivchorot Lo Bochorot

18. Formation of Haredi women’s party makomisrael.org | @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael B’Zhutan: Haredi Women Making Change “We want to preserve our identity” and demonstrate that women can be educated, be leaders and “stay Haredi” Platform: represent social issues of haredi women, including women’s health, agunot, and challenges faced by divorced women and single-parents They face threats of excommunication from their community from leadership who disapprove of women entering public life (Source: Haaretz and Arutz Sheva)HaaretzArutz Sheva (For more on Haredim in Israel)Haredim in Israel

19. Closing Questions How has women’s involvement in Israeli politics changed over the past century? In what ways do you think it might change in the future? Do you feel women’s involvement has come “far enough”? Why or why not? How important are these issues to you?

20. Thank You! makomisrael.org @makomisrael | facebook.com/makomisrael