In Israel’s endless elections, female candidates have been the biggest losers
Source: Foreig Policy
In mid-January, Israel’s political parties finalized their lists for what will hopefully be the last general election for a while. A referendum on the future of Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, dogged by corruption charges, and on the prospect of West Bank annexation, this election—the third in the last year—could be among Israel’s most consequential. As both the right and left scrambled to preempt yet another postelection stalemate over government formation, their parties entered into groundbreaking mergers that could alter the face of the country’s politics. The most striking casualty in all these shifts has been women.
The downward trend began in the first iteration of these elections in April 2019, when the number of women elected to the Knesset dropped from 35 to 29 seats. In the September election, the number slipped to 28. The decline has transcended party lines. On the upcoming election slates, only two women are represented among the top 10 seats of each of the three largest parties—Likud, Blue and White, and the Joint List. The numbers do start to improve further down the lists. Meanwhile, the right-wing political alliance Yamina has five women in its top 10 seats, and the left-wing Labor-Gesher-Meretz party has four. The ultra-Orthodox parties, per usual, have none. These changes mean that even fewer women could enter the 23rd Knesset than the last.
Click here to read the full article published by Foreig Policy on 27 January 2020.
In mid-January, Israel’s political parties finalized their lists for what will hopefully be the last general election for a while. A referendum on the future of Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, dogged by corruption charges, and on the prospect of West Bank annexation, this election—the third in the last year—could be among Israel’s most consequential. As both the right and left scrambled to preempt yet another postelection stalemate over government formation, their parties entered into groundbreaking mergers that could alter the face of the country’s politics. The most striking casualty in all these shifts has been women.
The downward trend began in the first iteration of these elections in April 2019, when the number of women elected to the Knesset dropped from 35 to 29 seats. In the September election, the number slipped to 28. The decline has transcended party lines. On the upcoming election slates, only two women are represented among the top 10 seats of each of the three largest parties—Likud, Blue and White, and the Joint List. The numbers do start to improve further down the lists. Meanwhile, the right-wing political alliance Yamina has five women in its top 10 seats, and the left-wing Labor-Gesher-Meretz party has four. The ultra-Orthodox parties, per usual, have none. These changes mean that even fewer women could enter the 23rd Knesset than the last.
Click here to read the full article published by Foreig Policy on 27 January 2020.