"Reserve spots for women on the lists": The demand to party leaders ahead of the elections
13 women heading local authorities in Israel signed a petition by the 5050 initiative demanding the alternating placement of women and men on the lists for the Knesset. The appeal comes ahead of the submission of the lists, against the backdrop of large gaps in female representation between the parties.
13 women heading local and regional councils in Israel signed the petition of the 5050 initiative for partnership and gender equality, which directly appeals to party leaders with the demand to present a list in which women and men are alternated throughout its length. The signatures come in the weeks before the deadline for submitting candidate lists.
Among the signatories: Lin Kaplan - head of the Tel Mond council, Or Piron-Zomer - head of the Oranit council, Hila Ben Harush Hachmon - head of the Kochav Yair-Tzur Yigal council, Rotem Yadlin - head of the Gezer regional council, Michal Uziahu - head of the Eshkol regional council, Galit Shaul - head of the Emek Hefer regional council, Keren Green - head of the Kadima-Zoran council, Oshrat Gani Gonen - head of the Drom HaSharon regional council, Shlomit Shihor Reichman - head of the Emek Yizrael regional council, Michal Rosenchein - mayor of Kiryat Ono, Dafna Ravid Rabinovich - head of the Shoham council, Lizi Delricha - mayor of Ganei Tikva and Mira Ben Ari - head of the Gan Rave council.
The appeal comes at a stage where the internal selection processes in most parties are already behind them, and the gaps between the various lists are large. The Democrats is the only list where one can already see the actual alternating placement of women and men. The Yashar party led by Eisenkot committed to 50% women and a zipper system on its list, and the Beyachad party led by Bennett announced that its list has a female majority.
All this is against the backdrop of the primary results in the Likud party, where there are only two women in the top 20 spots. In the Religious Zionism party, the internal elections have ended, and the expectation is for only one woman. Otzma Yehudit stands at nine mandates in the polls with one woman, and the party chairman Itamar Ben Gvir did not address the issue at all. Avigdor Lieberman added women to his ranks, but did not commit to this. Yoaz Hendel recently said that he does not commit to 50% women and that he "looks at women like men." In the ultra-Orthodox parties there is not a single woman, and in the Arab parties they intend to announce the list at the end of the week, and it seems that there is no woman in a realistic spot. There is a fear that they too will arrive at the next Knesset without a single representative.
