Israeli women excluded from decision-making on coronavirus

One explanation for the exclusion of women from the current decision-making process could be the Israeli perception of the anti-coronavirus campaign as a military/male operation. Early in the pandemic, the Israel Defense Forces were called to assist with the management of the ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak, hit hard by the first coronavirus wave. Former Defense Minister Naftali Bennett saw his popularity rise, after proposing military-style measures to counter the spread of the pandemic.

In contrast, the Foreign Ministry hosted on July 27-28 an international online conference for female leaders. The conference has been held in Israel every two years since 1961, according to the vision of then-Foreign Minister Golda Meir to empower women. This year’s conference focused on the social and economic ramifications of the coronavirus outbreak on women and girls, with women from across the globe participating and sharing experiences. It was a clear demonstration of female leaders engaged in battling the coronavirus health crisis and its effects on, for instance, women’s employment and entrepreneurship.

The Foreign Ministry made a point of including in the conference women of the highest leadership level. Israeli professor Frances Raday, former special rapporteur for the United Nations Human Rights Council, participated in the first panel on analyzing the global economic impact of COVID-19 and women and girls, together with Henrietta Fore, the executive director of UNICEF, and other top-level UN women. Participants made sure to mention the female leaders of Germany, Finland, New Zealand and Denmark, who have achieved excellent results in managing the coronavirus crisis so far.

Apart from decision-making, Israeli women are affected daily and more directly by the coronavirus-induced crisis. Shai Oxenberg, policy and legislation director at the Israel Women’s Network lobbying group, told Al-Monitor that the coronavirus pandemic affect Israeli women mainly in two fields: employment and domestic violence. The women who suffer most are those of the ultra-Orthodox and Arab minority groups — women who are more vulnerable even during normal times. She said that pregnant women were also subject to various hardships.

“Apart from suffering from unemployment and domestic violence, Israeli women were confronted with the heavy burden of caring for the children — as the result of the decision to shut down the education system. All this happened while women were conspicuously excluded and absent from the decision-making process,” Oxenberg added.

Oxenberg’s claims are backed by statistics. A report drafted by Yael Hasson and Hadas Ben Eliyahu and published June 1 by the Adva center states that “by the first week of April, 21% of working women in Israel found themselves out of work, compared with 16% of men. Among women, this was the situation of 30% of ultra-Orthodox women and 18% of Arab women.”

Another report published June 18 by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies also shows that the coronavirus pandemic resulted in higher rates of unemployment among Israeli women. Author of the report Liora Bowers writes that in the immediate term, a significantly larger share of unemployment claims have been submitted by women since March 1 — 56% compared to 44% of men. “It appears that Jewish women — in particular, ultra-Orthodox women — have been hardest hit. Furthermore, in 18 out of 19 industries more women have lost jobs disproportionately to their share of positions in that industry,’’ Bowers notes.

Still, Bowers highlights also some positive changes, such as the division between men and women on caring for their children, especially in small families. “In a survey conducted by researchers from the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, men reported a 10% increase in the amount of time they spend with their children during the coronavirus crisis versus the period before,” Bowers writes.