Should gender equality in gov’t parties be required by law?
IDI representatives call for policy allowing extra funding for parties making efforts to uphold gender equality
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIThe Knesset's Committee for the Advancement of Women and Gender Equality discusses the lack of representation of women in numerous political parties.(photo credit: DANI SHEM TOV/KNESSET SPOKESPERSONS OFFICE)
The Committee for the Advancement of Women and Gender Equality discussed the legality of governmental parties without women listed as any of their members on Wednesday.In a discussion led by committee head Oded Forer, the committee discussed whether the ultra-Orthodox parties were standing in the way of such representation, and if such a choice on the basis of religion is legitimate.“We have warned more than merely once or twice that the process which the State of Israel is going through makes it seem as though we are moving toward a halachic [Jewish law] state,” Forer said at the beginning of the meeting, referring to policies the government has set forth which write Jewish law into state law, such as the limitation of public transportation on Shabbat or the illegality of civil marriages.“Ahead of the elections for the Knesset, the subject to be debated again and again is swept under the rug: the subject is that when parties register with no women or with no chance that a woman would enter the government, it is a very serious problem,” he continued.Indeed, Israel has not ranked well in terms of gender equality in the government. Just last year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ranked Israel in 23rd place out of 33 democratic countries in terms of gender equality in the government. The OECD’s Global Gender Gap Index, too, ranked Israel in 64th place in the world – a fall of 18 steps down from where it had been two years prior.Other countries have passed legislation that encourages and even requires representation of women to a certain, minimal extent in the country’s government. Such policies were adopted throughout many European countries, including France, where the Parisian municipality was recently fined for there being a significant number of more women than men.Dr. Assaf Shapira and Dr. Chen Friedberg of the Israel Democracy Institute sent an appeal to the committee ahead of the Wednesday discussion, urging it to adopt such a policy and correct the Party Funding Law so that political parties may receive additional funding, should they meet two rules: Each 10 consecutive members in the party’s list must have at least three candidates of each gender, and the first three slots of the party must be held by members of Knesset of either gender. Such a rule would apply until at least 40% of members of each gender are elected to the Knesset in two consecutive election campaigns, after which it will be possible to cancel it.Shapira and Friedberg warn against harming the legitimacy of the current political system should women not be represented thoroughly, as that would infringe upon the principle of representativeness and equality that democratic governments must uphold.“We ask that the public make a perceptual change so that parties understand that they must not run without women,” MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh said during the meeting, during which she supported the motion to correct the representation of women in parties’ lists which do not have women at all or have them very low down so that it is improbable they will be elected.Indeed, according to the Knesset Research and Information Center’s Ido Avgar, 30 women were elected in the last elections, which marks a record number of women in the Knesset so far – and yet, women are only one-quarter of the government. In addition, few of them are in the higher-ranking spots of the political parties, or, as Cotler-Wunsh said, “They adorn them.”
