There is common idea in Israel that the standing for women, economically, socially and culturally has improved enormously in recent years, particularly the last two decades, and that mainstream society in Israel is moving towards an era of full and complete equality, regardless of gender. This opinion is extremely encouraging to many women and young girls have high aspirations for their part in Israeli society. It is also encouraging to men in Israel, who now can believe that their wives, daughters, friends and all women live in a world that treats them with the respect and fairness that they deserve. Looking back, women in Israel have been treated poorly and as second class citizens for generations. The Israeli Declaration of Independence
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Prior to that period of time, the issue captured widespread interest among the communities within the diaspora, especially in the United States, due to prominence given to the campaign against gender segregation on public buses in America. “Soon after the gender-segregated buses were introduced, the Israel Women 's Network petitioned the High Court, arguing that the policy discriminated against women. Their argument rested on the precedence of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in the United States.” (Feldheim 31) They women arguing against the segregation of the bus systems found many consistencies with segregation between Caucasians and African-Americans in the United States. The Israeli Supreme Court denied this argument based on the grounds that the bus segregation in Israel raised very few complaints and was widely accepted in the ultra-Orthodox communities. The IRAC, or the Israel Religious Action Center became involved in 2001 after receiving hundreds of complaints from women who frequently used the bus system. These women testified to receiving physical or verbal abuse when they refused to obey the laws that enforced the forced segregation or the strict dress codes on the “mehadrin” buses. “Mehadrin”, means "extra kosher". It is utilized to imply that the service is provided is strictly following Jewish law. This is just one example of how Jewish law stood in the way …show more content…
While the IDF always makes new missions available to female soldiers on an as-needed basis, arguably to combat a shortage of man power, it does not do this in order to promote gender equality. There is also a well-known element of “masculine-macho culture” within the IDF. Only two decades ago, women were finally given the right to serve in the air forces of the IDF. Only a large, public legal battle forced the Air Force’s hand to allow women to begin training courses for pilots. This shows a disregard for progression towards gender equality. The Military Advocate General 's office did not oppose the aim by the accuser, a woman serving in the IDF named Alice Miller, to begin training on the grounds of a rule against female pilots which would have been sexist, but instead said "defense expenditures” (Herzog 66), which was an obvious attempt at covering up the IDF’s blatant discrimination against women. “The military 's logic was that the investment involved in setting up a special course for women would be incommensurate with the high costs of maintaining the Air Force 's preparedness and combat capability, given Israel 's security situation.” (Herzog 67) This blatant attempt at silencing women who wanted to be more active in their service in the military shows a disrespect towards women and a lack of gender equality in Israel, and
Prior to that period of time, the issue captured widespread interest among the communities within the diaspora, especially in the United States, due to prominence given to the campaign against gender segregation on public buses in America. “Soon after the gender-segregated buses were introduced, the Israel Women 's Network petitioned the High Court, arguing that the policy discriminated against women. Their argument rested on the precedence of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in the United States.” (Feldheim 31) They women arguing against the segregation of the bus systems found many consistencies with segregation between Caucasians and African-Americans in the United States. The Israeli Supreme Court denied this argument based on the grounds that the bus segregation in Israel raised very few complaints and was widely accepted in the ultra-Orthodox communities. The IRAC, or the Israel Religious Action Center became involved in 2001 after receiving hundreds of complaints from women who frequently used the bus system. These women testified to receiving physical or verbal abuse when they refused to obey the laws that enforced the forced segregation or the strict dress codes on the “mehadrin” buses. “Mehadrin”, means "extra kosher". It is utilized to imply that the service is provided is strictly following Jewish law. This is just one example of how Jewish law stood in the way …show more content…
While the IDF always makes new missions available to female soldiers on an as-needed basis, arguably to combat a shortage of man power, it does not do this in order to promote gender equality. There is also a well-known element of “masculine-macho culture” within the IDF. Only two decades ago, women were finally given the right to serve in the air forces of the IDF. Only a large, public legal battle forced the Air Force’s hand to allow women to begin training courses for pilots. This shows a disregard for progression towards gender equality. The Military Advocate General 's office did not oppose the aim by the accuser, a woman serving in the IDF named Alice Miller, to begin training on the grounds of a rule against female pilots which would have been sexist, but instead said "defense expenditures” (Herzog 66), which was an obvious attempt at covering up the IDF’s blatant discrimination against women. “The military 's logic was that the investment involved in setting up a special course for women would be incommensurate with the high costs of maintaining the Air Force 's preparedness and combat capability, given Israel 's security situation.” (Herzog 67) This blatant attempt at silencing women who wanted to be more active in their service in the military shows a disrespect towards women and a lack of gender equality in Israel, and