Israeli Women

The State of Israel was established on the principle of equality of social and political rights for all its citizens. Israel's Declaration of Independence was one of the first of its kind to include sex as a group classification for the purpose of equal rights, stating, “The State of Israel will maintain equal social and political rights for all citizens, irrespective of religion, race or sex.” There have been a number of pieces of legislation aimed at implementing the principle of gender equality, starting with the 1951 Women's Equal Rights Law. The law equates the legal status of women to that of men and prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex.

The Equal Employment Opportunities Law (1988) prohibits all forms of discrimination in the workplace on the basis of gender, marital status and parenthood. This law recognizes sexual harassment as a form of discrimination in the workplace, which is subject to civil and criminal sanctions. Ten years later, the Israeli Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law was enacted, prohibiting sexual harassment (which is widely defined) and prejudicial treatment in a broad range of situations involving relationships of power and dependence. Further, the Israeli judiciary has contributed greatly to the advancement of women’s rights. The Supreme Court has declared the principle of gender equality to be a fundamental tenet of the Israeli legal system.

Women represent 50.7% of Israel's population. The average life span for women is 81.2 years compared to 77.3 years for men.

The average marrying age for Jewish women is 24.5, and for Muslim women 20.5. In Europe the average marrying age for women is 27. Of mothers in Israel, some 97,000 are single parents, and 64% of them are Jewish. Single mothers head 10% of families in Israel compared to 17% in other Western countries.

Education

In 2004, approximately 22% of Israel's women had 13-15 years of formal education compared to 20% of men but, conversely, 4.5% of women have no schooling compared to 1.8% of men. The female ratio of students is high in secondary education institutions, with an overall average of 55.9% in 2004. Israel ranks seventh in the Western world with regard to the percentage of women who are studying in higher education facilities. Women make up 81% of students in teaching courses, 79.3% in nursing and other forms of medical assistance, 23.5% of students in courses such as engineering and architecture, 31.4% of students studying mathematics, statistics and computer sciences, and 24% of university faculty. Israel is ranked 37 th overall in gender equality and 28 th in women’s educational attainment in a 2005 World Economic Forum study.

Employment

Since the establishment of the state, the ratio of unemployment among females has been higher than that of males. In 2003, 11.3% of women who wanted to work were unemployed compared to 10.2% of men. In 2004, women made up 45.8% of Israel's work force. In terms of equal economic participation and opportunity for women, the WEF study ranks Israel as 28 th and 40 th, respectively.

Women are less inclined to be self-employed than men — 91.4% of working women are salaried employees compared to 82.4% of men. Only 4.4% of salaried women are in executive roles, compared to 11.6% of men. Men also earn more in monthly salaries and more in jobs paid by an hourly rate.

Government

In the Knesset, 17 (14.2%) out of 120 members are women, as compared to 40% of Scandinavian legislators and, on average, 17.6% among the member states of the European Union.

Israel is one of the only countries to have been led by a female Prime Minister. Known as the “Iron Lady” of Israeli politics, Prime Minister Golda Meir served from 1969 to 1974, and was only the third woman to serve as Prime Minister in the world. Currently, five out of twelve Supreme Court Justices are women. In the May 2006 Knesset elections, Dalia Itzik was appointed Speaker of the Knesset and Yael (Yuli) Tamir became the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport. Prominent female politicians who have served in past Knessets, include Shoshana Arbeli Almoslino, Shulamit Aloni, Sara Doron, Ora Namir, Limor Livnat, Tzippy Livni and Yehudit Naot.

Sixty percent of public servants are women, but most are concentrated in the lower ranks of the civil service. Affirmative Action legislation was enacted to improve women’s representation in higher ranks.

The limited number of women in public life can be attributed, to a large extent, to the political structure itself. The system of proportional representation, which actually encouraged women's representation in Europe, has not had the same effect in Israel. A great deal of power is granted to the political parties, in which women tend to be under-represented, particularly at the decision-making levels. Also, the absence of majority parties necessitates the establishment of coalitions with smaller parties to form a government. This tends to strengthen the role of the small religious parties, which are generally opposed to the participation of women in public life. Other small parties, such as the Arab and ethnic parties, have also discouraged participation of women.

One path into national politics is through local government, in which, until very recently, women played a very minor role. Another course is via the army. A large number of high-ranking officers vie for Knesset spots after retiring from a military career; however, few women rise to high rank. Since the elections to the thirteenth Knesset, party primaries have emerged as a fourth path into national politics. While primaries are more accessible to women, they require three things which women candidates tend not to have in abundance: money, public exposure and organization.

Cultural pressures to marry early and start a family are strong among Israeli women. As a result, many women who are interested in politics sacrifice their own aspirations in the name of marriage and family. For mothers of young children, any type of career, and a political career in particular, is difficult because of the incongruence between the typical school day, which ends at 12:30 or 1 p.m., and the workday, which ends several hours later. Like any latecomers to politics, women who begin a political career, or return to politics after their children are grown, find themselves at a significant disadvantage.

Equal Rights

Many political parties now necessitate a minimum number of women on all party lists, but these requirements are not yet implemented on all levels of party activity. In addition to legislative change, the work of government bodies, non-government women's organizations and grassroots activist groups are instrumental in directing and channeling the intellectual power and leadership potential of Israeli women.

Military Service

Service in the Israel Defense Forces is compulsory for both men and women – women serve for twenty-four months, men for thirty-six months. There has been much debate over whether women should serve in combat units. In 1994, the Supreme Court upheld the petition of a servicewoman to be allowed to apply to the air force to train as a pilot. Following this ruling, the Defense Service Law was amended to enable servicewomen to attend Flight School. In 2001, the first female fighter pilot graduated the Israel Air Force flight school. Today, women take active roles in all units of the IDF.

Women's Organizations

The exact number of women's NGOs operating in Israel is estimated at 100. They vary tremendously in size, ideology, socio-economic characteristics of their members, activities and goals. Some of the major organizations are the Israel Women’s Network (IWN), Na’amat, Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO), and Emunah.

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