Last Tuesday morning, the wings of history quietly flapped. MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), until recently the deputy foreign minister, was sworn in for the first time as a minister following her appointment to the Diaspora Affairs Ministry.
And that is how Israel came back to hold one of its own records: Four women serving simultaneously as ministers, two of them appointed ministers in the early days of the 34th government in May 2015: Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev, and Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel. Joining them a month ago was Yifat Shasha Biton, named construction and housing minister, and Hotoveli three weeks later.
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A long time ago, in the distant past of that same government, then-Habayit Hayehudi and currently Yamina MK Ayelet Shaked served as justice minister, and Yisrael Beytenu MK Sofa Landver was immigration absorption minister.
It could just a game of musical chairs of a caretaker government, orchestrated one month before the general elections – an unprecedented third vote in the span of one year. But despite this current record, female representation in the Israeli parliament stands at just 17%, one of the lowest in the world. Not to mention that the Diaspora Ministry to which Hotoveli was named is one of the most minor ministries. But, just like in the Olympics, in an arena with few records – every win counts.
This record joins another one: The 20th Knesset, the last one that actually functioned, had 29 women after the 2015 elections. At its later days, before it was dissolved ahead of the April 2019 elections, the number of women in the Knesset broke another record – 35 female lawmakers, the highest since Israel's inception in 1948.
But that record was broken mainly due to men quitting parliament and vacating their seats for the next in line. Senior women, prominent political veterans who also led parties, left the Knesset for various reasons. This included figures such as Zehava Galon (Meretz), Shelly Yahimovich (Labor) and Zipi Livni (Kadima, Hatnuah).
Other women have also vanished from Israeli politics: Stav Shaffir, who gave up the second slot on Labor's Knesset roster to form a union between Meretz and Ehud Barak's party, was then pushed down the list and eventually pushed out completely; Aliza Lavie from Yesh Atid and Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli from Habayit Hayehudi, two lawmakers with many credits to their name, especially benefitting women, who despite their diligence were placed in unrealistic slots. Lavie, as of today, is no longer in politics. Mualem is in the 11th slot in Yamina's slate, which polls are now forecasting will only take eight seats.
So, even though they were less than a third of the Knesset, while women are 51% of the population, for a while there was reason to celebrate. But now it's clear that the party is over. Only 27 women were voted into the last Knesset, and according to recent polls, after the vote next month, the number in the 23rd Knesset has no chance of topping 28.
The end of an era
"The regression is significant, and it's much more than just a headcount of women in parliament," Galon told Israel Hayom. "In Meretz there were always women, but for at least a decade and especially over the past few years, there has been a lot of progress when it comes to the presence and influence of women in politics.
"The year 2018 was a turning point for women in Israel and around the world, mainly due to the #MeToo campaign. Something major happened, on many levels. The public discourse changed, the awareness, the personal and public courage, amongst both women and men. But then we got sucked into a whirlpool of elections, and the momentum stopped. Unfortunately, the momentum dissipated was missed or blocked."
In October 2017, after 18 years as a Knesset member, Galon resigned in order to focus on changing the electoral process in Meretz, as she attempted to hold on to the helm of the party that she led since 2012. Galon was certain that holding open primaries would strengthen Meretz, which was losing power. Eventually, a compromise was reached in the party that would call for holding primaries for the first time. But during the challenge for the leadership, Galon dropped out of the race and from politics. At least, the politics between the four walls of the Knesset.
She was replaced by Tamar Zandberg, who two years ago was elected to lead Meretz by a large majority. But Zandberg as well no longer leads the party. Today she is 4th on the Labor-Gesher-Meretz slate, the second slot held by Gesher's Orly Levi Abekasis, yet another woman who no longer heads a party.
In the next elections, not one of the eight parties expected to enter parliament will be led by a woman.
"After five consecutive elections in which women led parties, in the upcoming vote all the leadership positions are held by men," says Michal Gera Margaliot, executive director of the Israel Women's Network.
"Over the past 20 years, since the 1999 elections, we've seen a consistent rise in the number of women in the Knesset, but that trend was halted in the elections over the last year. And it happened right after one of the peak years of feminism in Israel."
"2018 wasn't only the year of #MeToo, with a long and diverse list of activities and campaigns locally and around the world. It was also a year with a dramatic increase in the number of women who competed and won in local elections in Israel, and a year that ended with the largest women's protest to ever take place in Israel, where thousands of women and men demonstrated on Dec. 4, 2018 against violence towards women. Large parts of the public went on strike, with the support of municipalities and both public and private companies. None of this should be taken for granted. There was a feeling of solidarity and strength, of progress that we had not seen until then. That feeling disappeared over the last year, and it's not completely clear if the achievements have been preserved."
Q: So, was all this just a passing fad more than a deep social change?
"There's also the element of changing trends. Now, for example, the trend is climate change. Or has that also weakened? In practice, there's almost no discussion or progress of anything substantial that deviates from the pinpointed political battles of election rounds. It's been almost a year where everything is stuck, the state has no agenda, there is no functioning Knesset or government. And even when there was, you always needed to struggle and fight for women to be part in a way that is at least close to appropriate," Gera Margaliot said.
"The situation is still one where in our world, the neutral is male. If there is no active promotion of women, the result means going backward. Today there is a major regression, and it's not only about representation in numbers. In various lists, women have been pushed back, to the 'women's section', to the fringes. We find most of the women in the less realistic, borderline slots. It's really obvious.
"In Blue and White, five women are in places 36-40, in the Likud six women are in slots 29-35, in Yamina there are five women in slots 7-11, in the Joint List there are two women at 14 and 15, and in Yisrael Beytenu there are two women in slots 9-10. In the Labor-Gesher-Meretz party there are four women in the top 10, while in the 10th slot, which is just barely on the threshold, there is a woman, Revital Swid. In the last two election rounds, women did not take part in coalition negotiations. It was all managed by men, and this is a situation that can and must change after the elections."
"When most of the discussion in politics is about 'yes or no Bibi' and all of his legal cases, the struggle for equality and women's representation is seen as an issue for bleeding hearts who are disconnected from reality," adds Galon. "Not that it was ever simple in that regard, of course not. But now it really seems that also among women, only a few are waving this banner – or even holding up a little flag – and only a few champions insist on having their voices heard, voices affiliated with gender equality or, god forbid, feminism.
"We've gone back to the era of generals, and to beat Netanyahu a special unit has been formed, commanded by not only one Chief of Staff, but three," she continued. "There are quite a few monarchic parties, where the leader compiles the list, including the placement of women. The mergers and patchwork between the parties have diluted the presence of women. The Kulanu party, that was swallowed up by the Likud; the three parties that together form Blue and White; the alliances in Yamina; Labor-Gesher-Meretz; the Joint List. When all these puzzles were put together, many women were pushed down to lower slots, or found themselves outside of the game completely."
The Global Gender Gap Report published annually by the World Economic Forum found that in 2019 Israel tumbled 18 places lower and is now 64th in the world, out of 153 countries. The report is based on the analysis of various elements, such as women's participation in the workforce, the quality of employment, access to education and health, and also political representation, which is the area where the gender gap has been slowest at closing.
"If the point of reference is 35 female members of parliament, then the forecast for 27-29 women in the upcoming Knesset is a significant regression," says Dr. Ofer Kenig a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute and a senior lecturer at the Ashkelon Academic College.
"But if one looks at the number of women who entered the Knesset immediately after the vote, it's basically been stable since the 2015 elections. The growth may have stopped, but it's not a complete reversal. At least, that's what I hope. And maybe this is a problematic time to judge the political system that has not been functioning for a year, and for the new women who have been elected and haven't had a chance yet to work and influence. For now, those are the only reasons for optimism.
"On the other hand, the comparison to the rest of the world shows that Israel is not in a good place. In OECD countries there is an incredible improvement in female representation in politics, and in 2018 Israel was almost on a par with them. But then Israel slowed down, while the other countries in the OECD kept on improving, and now there's a gap of about 8%," Kenig said.
"The OECD average is almost 31%, compared to the 23% now in Israel. As of today, Israel is ranked 26th amongst 36 OECD countries in the number of women in parliament, when Mexico is topping the list with 48%, followed closely by Sweden (47.3%), Finland (47%), Spain (44%), Belgium (42%), Switzerland (41.5%), New Zealand and Norway (both on 40.8%).
"When it comes to the number of women in government, Israel is even worse," he continued. "Four female ministers is indeed a record, but it doesn't stop Israel from being in last place compared to democratic countries. Twelve countries are led today by women. Germany, Bangladesh, Norway, Serbia, New Zealand, Iceland, Barbados, Denmark, Belgium and Finland all have female prime ministers. Taiwan and Switzerland have female presidents.
"There are more governments with gender equality: The Trudeau government in Canada, the Macron government in France, and the new governments of Sanchez in Spain and Kurtz in Austria. As part of their election campaigns, candidates are promising the public that they will form more equal governments. Meaning, this is turning into electoral power. One must say honestly and with much sorrow, as opposed to many countries around the world, apparently in Israel this simply isn't an important issue to society."
According to Kenig, "All of this has no relevance currently in our politics, and not only because women don't lead parties and are in low slots on the lists. Netanyahu can't promise to form a government with gender equality when two of his main partners, ultra-Orthodox parties United Torah Judaism and Shas, have never included women in their lists.
"It will be difficult for Gantz, as well, to promise that, mainly because the list he leads is very unequal gender-wise. Furthermore, the prime minister-elect in Israel must form a coalition government, and therefore has no control over half of the ministers, because they come from the other joining parties. So, it doesn't seem like there will be a gender-equal government any time soon in Israel."
Maybe one can find comfort in the fact that not long ago it was a lot worse.
During Israel's first 50 years, women were, at best, just about one-tenth of all parliament members. Up until the 1999 election, the number of female lawmakers stood between 7-11. The record during the first 50 years was in 1955 when 12 women were elected to the Knesset, but that was an anomaly, and their numbers dropped immediately afterward.
The lowest point was when Israel celebrated 40 years as a democratic state, in 1988, when only seven female lawmakers sat in the Knesset. A humble 5.8%.
Golda was the last
In this unflattering picture of reality there was one ray of light: Golda Meir. An exception, not only in Israel, but on a global level, that broke through and shattered every obstacle and ceiling out there, especially for herself. Even to this day there are debates over how much Meir promoted women in Israel, if at all.
On the one hand, she advanced social legislation that women were the first to benefit from. On the other hand, she did not miss any opportunity to declare that she "is not very impressed with the kind of 'feminism' that calls for burning bras," and stressed that "the fact that I am a woman never hindered me in any way," and did not promote women around her.
Despite the fact that burning bras is a myth originating in fake news that was used against feminist activists in the US in the 1960s, the precedents that Meir established did not pave the way for other women. For them, the fact they were women did indeed hinder them quite a bit.
During Israel's first 25 years, Meir was the only woman to serve in the government. For 20 years and 12 governments, she was the only woman who served as a minister (labor minister and foreign minister). Despite being the first and only woman in Israel to be Prime Minister (and the third in the world to be elected to the position in democratic elections, after Sri Lanka and India), the governments she formed were made up only of men.
After her resignation from the premiership in 1974 and the formation of the Rabin government, Shulamit Aloni of the Ratz party – Meretz's predecessor – was appointed minister. But it was without portfolio, and she served for only five months.
Only in 1986 was another woman appointed minister, when Shoshana Arbeli-Almozlino (Labor) served for two years as Health Minister in the rotation government led by Yitzhak Shamir. In total, only 19 women have served as ministers in all of Israel's 72 years.
"Till this day people ask me why it matters, and what is so important in fair and proper representation of women in parliament and government," says Limor Livnat, who served 23 years as a Likud lawmaker and 14 years as communications minister, science, culture and sports minister, and education minister. "They wonder about the significance of my being the only woman in Netanyahu's government in 1996, where I first served as Communications Minister. A government of 18 ministers, 17 of them male.
"So first, it's important to clarify, we were actually two women. Me and the stenographer. Besides that, in all my years in parliament, also as a veteran minister, experienced and senior, I was always in a daily battle for survival. Women are a sociological minority, and I felt it every day when I came to the Knesset. Even outside the Knesset, the playing field was completely male. The Likud Central Committee, all the cliques, the power groups – all men. These doubts about the importance of female representation are no more than feigning innocence or a complete lack of awareness.
"I became a political activist because of ideology and the education I got at home, and that I was born to serve the state," she said. "I admit that at the beginning, none of that included gender awareness or a feminist agenda. But life taught me this lesson.
"Pretty quickly I understood that I'm 'unelectable'. My colleagues in political activity in the university and the Likud movement were elected to significant postings, moving ahead and working, while I was left behind. Roni Milo, Dan Meridor, Miki Eitan, Michael Kleiner and others who started their political paths at the same time as me, moved faster and I wasn't chosen for any post just because I'm a woman.
"I would come to interviews for various political posts, and before anything, they would look at my clothes, my hair. Look at my hands and search for a wedding ring, or just ask 'Are you married?', 'Will your husband allow you to be out of the house?', 'Who will take care of the kids?.' This was in the 1980s, not that long ago, and allow me to presume that to this day women have similar experiences," Livnat noted.
"In the 1988 elections the Likud won 40 seats, and I didn't get into parliament because I was in 44th place. That's how bad the situation was. Ahead of me was only Sarah Doron from 'The Liberals.' that as part of union deals was put in 39th place, after she had already served as a minister without portfolio."
"That was a point of no return for me. I learned from experience that just because I'm a woman I am blocked, and therefore I have to create power for myself. Men who are no better than me pass over me? Fine, I get it, and there's no way I'm giving up. At that time I became active in the Women's Lobby. There I joined other women and we created power for ourselves. Great women, like Tamar Gozansky from Hadash, Naomi Chazan from Meretz and Yael Dayan from Labor.
"In the 1992 elections I was voted into the Knesset and we started working together, despite our ideological differences," she continued. "During the same year the [Knesset] Committee for Advancing the Status of Women was created, and Yael Dayan headed it, and that's when things started to happen. We didn't agree on a lot of issues. We would argue, raise our voices and even fight in the Knesset plenum and in protests. It was a difficult and nerve-wracking time. The Oslo agreements, the murder of Rabin. But we knew how to put everything aside in order to advance women. I remember a protest that Yael and I took part in, where they yelled at me that whoever doesn't support the two-state solution cannot really be a feminist. When Yael heard that, she stood in front of them and gave them a mouthful.
"Regardless of the diplomatic issue, the right-wing had no awareness or interest in gender equality. I had a few discussions about this with Geula Cohen. She told me 'I'm only concerned about the Land of Israel'. I told her 'OK, Geula, but I have another mission, and it is directly connected to the good of the Land of Israel and the people of Israel.'
"Women are the largest human resource in Israel, quantity and quality-wise. If equality is not promised to women and if barriers are not removed, you're hurting the state and society. Very simple.
"Geula was an amazing, powerful, educated, and knowledgeable woman. She could have easily taken on other fields of action, add another mission to her agenda. So, it wasn't always easy with women, either. On the other hand, throughout the years there were many men who played a significant role in promoting equality. But there must be many women to create joint power and to be committed to the issue. I hope I'm wrong, but my feeling is that today there are not enough women like that in the Knesset."
Q: For over 20 years you felt you were constantly fighting to survive?
"In one way or another, yes. Even a battle for attention. Around the government table, as a minister, the minute I began speaking about a diplomatic or defense issue, the attention would drop dramatically, in a split second. Like many women who try to achieve their goals in an unequal or chauvinistic setting, I had to fight, be tough, determined and uncompromising. But when it comes to women, that kind of behavior makes you look like a bitch. like an aggressive dog."
'Legislation is needed'
It's hard to imagine any major change happening while two of the parties that make up parliament - Shas and United Torah Judaism - do not allow women on their slates. It seemed like 2018 was a turning point in that regard, when the issue was addressed by the High Court of Justice. After it intervened, United Torah Judaism year removed from its party constitution (which originated from that of Agudat Yisrael) a clause that said "a member of the party can be: A Jewish man of 18 years and older, who observes Torah and mitzvot. A woman can join the Women of Agudat Yisrael, which will be a separate body, in the spirit of Halacha, connected organically and spiritually to Agudat Yisrael." Shas, which had a similar clause in its party terms, also announced it would change its accordingly.
"In reality nothing changed," says Esti Shushan, who in 2012 founded the NGO "The Chosen" – a Haredi women's organization that works for "representation, equality and a voice in the public spheres in Israel."
Shushan and her colleagues in the group work in every possible way to allow Haredi women to run for parliament as part of orthodox parties. But they were not part of the petitioners to the High Court of Justice "out of respect to the Haredi community, which we are part of." says Shushan.
"However, we did submit a position paper, and for three years we were involved in every stage and came to every hearing that dealt directly with our lives and futures. We came with our eyes wide open, because we knew it was impossible to force change through legal means on an issue that is at the heart of Haredi culture and society.
"We had hoped, at least, that this way the issue would be part of the public discourse and would eventually lead to change. But in the end, even after a lot of progress thanks to the High Court of Justice, nothing has changed. We again became targets for attacks and criticism, from Haredi society but also from seculars, such as in the media, where they belittled our work and showed a lot of ignorance when they claimed we're not connected to the petition. We're used to paying high prices for our views. For me this is my life project, and I won't give up until I'm done."
Q: Have you tried to contact United Torah Judaism and Shas? Have a direct dialogue?
"Of course, many times and in many ways," she said. "On Jan. 13, two days before the party lists were closed, we wrote to [UTJ] MK Moshe Gafni, and ministers Aryeh Deri and Moshe Litzman. We told them that 'the time has come to integrate women in the lists.' Anywhere. Even only one woman. As long as women become part of it. We again explained that the current situation does not allow for the representation of the needs and challenges of Haredi women in different communities, who find it difficult to get help from the male representatives at all points of decision making and influence. We didn't get any response.
"Some of my colleagues and I met with one of the Haredi MKs in his Knesset office, and we asked to find a way to change things. He said to me, 'You know the community. You can't make processes move fast. Meanwhile, I am representing you.' But I don't want men to represent me, and I don't want non-Orthodox women to represent me either, even if their intentions are pure. In a democratic state, Haredi women must also have the basic right to be elected for office. The politics in Israel are so sectoral, that if there is no representation - there is no voice."
"It's true that it's not a good situation, and there's a long road ahead, but there is a possibility to influence even now," says Gera Margaliot. "To insist that women take part in the coalition talks. To anchor in the coalition deals female representation. To have women head of Knesset committees, they wield immense power. To be appointed regulators, directors general of government ministries. I have many suggestions, and none of them involve a compromise or favor being given to women. It's been proven enough times that women are very effective in parliamentary work, and not only that.
"What more has been proven is that legislation and affirmative action policy, that I prefer to call positive discrimination, are the sure way for growing female representation. Because there is no shortage of women who want to be in politics and women who are talented and suitable for political jobs. Most of the discrimination is not on purpose. It's not a male conspiracy, and the situation can be fixed by legislation that would give budgets or take budgets from parties, according to their female representation."
The women's party
Massive legislation and fieldwork are what brought about the major change in the local elections of 2018. A large part of the activity was led by a coalition that included 26 organizations, called "Local women 2018."
"We started when women representation at heads of local municipalities was at 2% (six women), and now it's gone up to 14%," says Dr. Mazal Shaul, Executive Director of WePower, which has been working for 20 years promoting women representation in politics.
"Of the 256 municipalities in Israel, in 98 of them, there was not one woman. Most of them are Arab municipalities, but also Jewish ones – and not necessarily Orthodox. Today there are 14 female mayors, twice as many, and a growth of 40% in the number of female local council members. A large part of this happened due to legislation.
"According to an amendment to the law of local government that was approved in parliament in 2014, a party that at least one-third of its members elected to the council are women received a budget hike of 15% from the total election funding amount it was due by law. It's not a lot of money, and it's basically a very simple step that made a dramatic change."
Shaul, a doctor of chemistry, recently went on unpaid leave as the director of the NGO in order to lead The Women's Voice, a party of women that is running for the Knesset for the first time in these upcoming elections.
"I know that women's parties have been unsuccessful in the past, but the local elections proved to me that the public is ready. The advance in female representation is moving now at the speed of a dying turtle. If we continue to wait for them to put us in realistic slots on the party lists, nothing will happen. We decided to make a real move and enter the game."
