Israel falls below the global average for women's representation in Parliament

As the upcoming elections approach, the parliamentary committee responsible for the status of women and gender equality is concerned about the position of women in the Knesset. According to data presented to its members, Israel now ranks 97th out of 189 countries in terms of female representation in parliament.

Of the 120 members of the current Knesset, only 31 are women, representing 26% of the assembly. In the election of the 25th Knesset, only 29 women were elected, accounting for 24% of the deputies. This figure has slightly increased due to resignations and replacements, but remains below the global average, which stands at 27.5%.

Female representation in the Israeli Parliament has stagnated for nearly a decade. The record was reached during the 2015-2019 legislature, with 37 women elected. Since then, their number has hovered around 30.

Interim chairwoman of the committee, MK Adi Azuz from Yesh Atid, assured that the fight would continue. "We will not give up. We will not settle for maintaining the current situation: we will bring you a Knesset with a female majority in the liberal parties," she declared.

MK Sharon Nir, from Yisrael Beiteinu, for her part warned against a worrying trend. "We are seeing a curve that, at best, is stagnant, and at worst, as during the last Knesset, is declining," she said.

The commission called on the parties to promote more female candidates in eligible positions on their lists. It also asked the authorities to strengthen efforts against the defacement of electoral posters featuring women, following the presentation of documented cases by women's rights organizations.

The debate is all the more sensitive given that the two ultra-Orthodox parties represented in the Knesset, Shas and United Torah Judaism, do not include any women on their electoral lists.

This alert comes within a broader context of tensions surrounding the role of women in Israeli public spaces. Earlier this week, the Knesset Education Committee approved the advancement of a bill aimed at expanding gender segregation in higher education, ahead of its final two readings in the plenary session. The bill would allow universities and colleges to offer master's and doctoral programs separated by gender, subject to approval by the Council for Higher Education.

Member of Knesset Naama Lazimi, from the Democrats party, strongly condemned what she described as a "terrible law," stating that lawmakers who oppose the presence of women in the Knesset, or whose parties forbid them from running, "have no right to deprive us of our freedoms and our rights."