Between the Flag and the Banner: Women in Israeli Politics

2. Women in the Elite

CHAPTER 2 Women in the Elite Discussion of women in the Israeli elite brings to mind the late prime minister Golda Meir, a woman of worldwide renown. Meir was helped neither by the tutelage of a political father nor by a politician husband, but rose through arduous and long party work. But the woman prime minister was a glaring exception. In Israel, as in most other societies, women are grossly underrepresented in the elites where political power is concentrated (Norris 1987; Randall 1987). As political elites distribute scarce national resources and determine public policies, it is critical for women to enter their ranks to further their interests. If women are underrepresented in decision-making bodies, they will probably have little influence on how gender issues are settled. This chapter discusses women's presence in the legislature, the government, the bureaucracy, political parties, and civic organizations. In all these, women are manifestly underrepresented and have far less access to power than men. Whether this insufficiency is linked to women's ambivalence in the political domain or is caused by factors beyond their control has remained a moot question, which is probed in this chapter. Women in the Legislature Women's underrepresentation in national legislatures has been widely documented (Lovenduski and Woodall 1987; Oakes and 27 28 Between the Flag and the Banner Almquist 1993). Data gathered by the Inter-Parliamentary Union reflect how the number of women in parliaments had evolved over the years, both in individual countries and on the regional and world levels. As noted in the opening of the union's survey: The Figures speak for themselves" (Distribution of Seats 1991, 1). The world average for women's representation in popular chambers was 11.0 percent in 1991. In some regions in Asia and Europe the percentage was higher-about 12.5. This figure obviously conceals a wide variety among countries: in Finland and Sweden women have reached a peak representation of some 38 percent, whereas in Turkey-a Muslim though secular country-women have constituted only 1.3 percent of the parliament members. In the Arab states the average proportion of women legislators is the lowest in the world-a mere 3.7 percent. How does Israel farE' compared with other countries? Bearing in mind that Israel is located in the Middle East, a region imbued with traditional mores, the proportion of women representatives is impressive, ranging between 7.5 percent and 10 percent. Figure 2.1 shows women's representation in the Knesset across time, from the First Knesset (1949) to the Thirteenth Knesset (1992). When the First Knesset convened immediately after the state won independence, there were 11 women among the 120 MKs (Members of the Knesset), among them members of Labor and Herut parties and one delegate of a Women's Party (discussed below).1 The Women's Party was short-lived, disappearing from the political arena before the elections to the Second Knesset, held only two years after the convening of the first. But the number of women delegates remained the same, as it did until 1959, when it dropped to nine. Between 1959 and 1984 the number of women elected to the parliament fluctuated between eight and ten. In 1988 (in the elections to the Twelfth Knesset) women were shocked to learn that the number of women legislators reached a record low of seven (Le., 5.8 percent of the total). In 1992, however, the situation was rectified as the number climbed back to eleven, the same number as forty-four years earlier in the formative years of statehood. Women in the Elite 15~------------------------------~ ~ 10 o ~ ...... o ci Z 5 o 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10111213 Knesset Figure 2.1 Women in the Knesset, 1949-1992 Source: Government Yearbooks 1950-1993. 29 A review of female representation across parties reveals that Israel confirms the general rule postulating an advantage for women in left-wing parties. So far, fifty-two women have served at least one term in the Knesset. Among these, some 77 percent belonged to left-wing parties (the Labor Party, previously known by the names Mapai and the Alignment; Achdut Haavoda, Mapam, the Civil Rights Movement, Meretz, the Communist Party); only two women belonging to the National Religious Party were elected to the Knesset, and only ten (19.2 percent) affiliated with right-wing parties (General Zionists, Liberals, Herut, Likud, Hatehiya, Tzomet). This distribution is no longer valid, as in the last elections in 1992, two...