Israel Women's Network

The Israel Women's Network works to advance gender equality through legal action, parliamentary and government engagement, research, public-awareness campaigns, and assistance to women facing workplace discrimination.[1][6] By 1997, it was one of Israel's largest and most visible women's organizations, with specialist committees addressing health, law, municipal and parliamentary affairs, family violence, and media and public relations.[4]

The organization currently presents its mission as promoting feminist policy, strengthening women's public voice, gathering data for policymakers, collaborating with grassroots organizations, and developing practical tools for advancing equality.[1] Its activities combine policy advocacy and impact litigation with research, education, employment-rights hotlines, and international engagement.

The Israel Women's Network emerged from the 20th annual America-Israel Dialogue, held at Jerusalem's Van Leer Foundation from July 30 to August 2, 1984.[7] The closing report described the event as marking, for Israeli women, "the establishment of the Israel Women's Lobby, a new force on the Israeli scene."[7] The organization was founded under the sponsorship of the American Jewish Congress, and its establishment was inspired in part by the participation of U.S. feminist leader Betty Friedan.[2][8]

Alice Shalvi became the Network's founding director in 1984 and later served as its chairwoman; she subsequently recalled heading the organization for approximately 15 years.[8][9] Shalvi traced its deeper roots to a feminist caucus and women's-studies initiative that she and colleagues launched at the Hebrew University in 1973 after encountering gender discrimination in academic life.[9] The organization was founded primarily by women in academia and rapidly expanded into a major women's-rights advocacy group.[9]

At its formation, the Network sought to unite Israeli women across political, professional, religious, and organizational divisions in advocacy for equality, justice, personal-status rights, employment protections, social services, and greater representation in government.[7] Its founding statement noted that women constituted 51 percent of Israel's population and demanded corresponding governmental attention. Specific demands included high priority for women's concerns in government policy, opposition to legislation detrimental to women's personal status, freedom of choice in family planning, opposition to social-service budget cuts adversely affecting women, protection from employment discrimination, and a substantial increase in the number of women in policymaking and administrative positions.[7]

Immediately after the Dialogue, more than 100 women representing every Israeli political party, most women's organizations, multiple professions, and religious and secular Jewish streams marched to the King David Hotel to present their demands to Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir during coalition negotiations.[7] The march was reported as proceeding under the Hebrew chant "no government on women's backs." Alice Shalvi, Tamar Eshel, and Yael Rom led the delegation.[7]

IWN's founders believed that women's status would best be advanced through legal action and political pressure rather than the provision of welfare services.[4] Consistent with this approach, the Network supported women challenging discrimination, organized discussion and study groups, lobbied Members of Knesset and other leaders, conducted research, held conferences, and advocated policies intended to make Israeli society more equitable.[2]

The Network also offered training courses for women seeking political careers, maintained a resource and information center, published a newsletter, and operated a legal-aid hotline.[4] Its Legal Commission provided initial legal advice and occasionally pro bono representation, primarily in precedent-setting cases.[4] By 2004, the organization had approximately 5,000 members, many of whom also belonged to at least one other organization.[10]

IWN's board is democratically elected and composed solely of professional women who volunteer their time to guide the organization.[11] Its current strategy emphasizes legal tools, parliamentary work, engagement with government, public advocacy, data gathering, shared feminist knowledge, and collaboration with grassroots organizations.[1]

Among IWN's most consequential contributions has been its role in shaping Israeli law governing workplace equality and protection from violence. The Network lobbied for the Prevention of Family Violence Law, passed in 1991, and for legislation prohibiting sexual harassment, passed in 1998.[12] The 1998 law made both the harasser and the employer responsible for civil damages, a provision IWN helped secure through sustained attention to violence against women and sexual harassment.[3][12] The Network also participated in efforts to enact Israel's Equal Employment Opportunities Law.[13]

Impact litigation has been central to IWN's strategy. In the 1994 Supreme Court case Israel Women's Network v. The Government of Israel, the Court accepted the Network's petition and voided the appointment of three men to boards of two government corporations that had no women members.[4] The decision interpreted the law as requiring positive efforts to secure appropriate representation of both sexes and treated affirmative action as an integral guarantee of equality rather than merely a temporary remedy, making it a major affirmative-action precedent.[4]

In 1995, IWN and the Citizens' Rights Association assisted Alice Miller in a petition to the Supreme Court seeking admission to the IDF pilots course.[14] The Court ruled that there was no justification for distinguishing between women and men or preventing women from applying to the course, a precedent-setting achievement for gender equality in the military.[14] Following the ruling, a change to the Security Service Law took effect in January 2000, stating that a woman could perform any job in the IDF, including combat positions, and receive equal rights after discharge.[14]

The Network also used research to promote legal reform. Beginning in 1992 and concluding toward the end of 1996, IWN initiated a study of gender bias in Israeli courts. It was submitted to Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, who established a committee to examine its findings and implications.[4] The Network's 1996 "Struggle Against Discrimination" hotline received 302 complaints. The government report separately stated that 157 complaints involved workplace discrimination and sexual harassment prohibited by the Equal Employment Opportunities Law.[4]

In 2017, IWN sent a letter to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and the Committee for the Selection of Judges calling for the appointment of a woman to the Supreme Court. It noted that four of the 15 Supreme Court judges were women—27 percent—and argued that women's representation was required by law and was a public and moral necessity.[13] In February 2023, IWN joined Na'amat and Forum Dvorah in petitioning Israel's High Court over the absence of women among the government's newly appointed ministry directors general. At that point, 23 of 31 positions had been filled by men, with eight vacancies remaining.[15] The petition asked the Court to require that the remaining positions be filled by women and argued, based on the 1951 Women's Equal Rights Law, that half of ministry directors general should be women.[15]

Alongside its policy and litigation work, IWN has maintained direct-service operations providing free legal assistance to women facing workplace discrimination. Its employment-rights hotline has operated since 1987 and has provided direct, free legal assistance to thousands of women.[16] The service covers labor rights during pregnancy, maternity leave, and fertility treatments, as well as equal pay, representation, and sexual harassment. IWN lawyers advise clients, explain legal options, send warning letters to employers when necessary, and provide representation in labor courts, mediation, and settlement proceedings.[6]

The organization reports that the hotline's work has produced court precedents concerning women's workplace rights and contributed to broader changes in women's status in Israel.[16] In October 2017, IWN established a separate legal hotline for ultra-Orthodox women in the workforce, recognizing that this population has distinctive characteristics and needs requiring a dedicated service.[17]

During the COVID-19 crisis, the Network's labor-law hotlines handled approximately 2,000 inquiries from women. The organization's CEO at the time was Dana Meitav, and the cited report stated that women constituted 70 percent of those laid off during the crisis.[18] The pandemic-era services included a general line for women's employment rights, separate lines for ultra-Orthodox and Arab working women, and a line concerning the exclusion of women from public settings.[18]

The Israel Women's Network has consistently combined advocacy with the production of original research and data. Its 2004 report, "Women in Economics and Business in Israel," drew on figures from Israel's National Insurance Institute, Central Bureau of Statistics, and Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor, among other sources.[19] It reported that women made up 49 percent of Israel's labor force, with 1.2 million women aged 15 and over working in 2003. Ninety-one percent of working women were employees, compared with 82 percent of men, and women worked an average of 31 hours per week compared with 42 hours for men.[19]

The report documented occupational segregation: 64 percent of working women were employed in ten traditionally female occupations, mostly educational or clerical, and nearly one-third were secretaries or clerks.[19] Women held only 10 percent of CEO positions and 30 percent of senior-management positions. Average gross monthly income was reported as NIS 5,322 for women and NIS 8,654 for men, a 39 percent difference.[19] Fifty-six percent of women surveyed said family responsibilities prevented them from taking a demanding management position, while 23 percent said being women barred them from management.[19]

Beginning in 2010, the Network partnered with the Strauss Group, the American organization Catalyst, and the Panels Research Institute to measure women's representation in the 100 companies of the Tel Aviv 100 Index. The fifth consecutive annual report, covering 2014, placed women at 19.4 percent of senior management, 18.2 percent of board members, 6 percent of CEOs, and 4 percent of board chairs.[20] It found that 80.6 percent of the companies had at least one woman in senior management and 92 percent had at least one woman on their board, yet only 17.6 percent of new board appointments were women.[20]

The qualitative research identified organizational culture, leadership from founders or senior managers, work-life policies, encouragement of internal promotion, and targeted removal of barriers as factors associated with greater female representation. It also cautioned that a single woman on a male-dominated board could function as a token and that one appointment alone was unlikely to change organizational conduct.[20]

From 2016 to 2020, Yaara Mann served as Head of Labor Market Policies at IWN, directing its public and political activity on employment issues and publishing policy research on work-life balance, parental leave, and early-childhood education and care.[21] A separate Network report on state Independence Day torch lighters found that during the preceding 12 years, 76 of 184 torch lighters were women. Nine of the women—12 percent—were selected because of a family connection to another notable person, only six were Arab women, and only 11 held a management position.[22]

The Network has also engaged with data on violence against women. U.S. Department of State human-rights reports for 2021 and 2022 attributed to IWN the estimate that more than 200,000 women in Israel lived in situations of domestic violence.[23][24] The 2021 report recorded 22 women and girls killed by male partners or other family members; the 2022 report recorded 24 such killings, according to the Israel Observatory on Femicide.[23][24] A 1999 publication also cited an IWN report titled "Trafficking of Women to Israel and Forced Prostitution" as stating that more than 1,000 women were illegally trafficked to Israel annually and that trafficked women were commonly around 20 years old.[25]

A significant area of IWN's activity has been the intersection of religious law and women's rights. For Jewish citizens of Israel, marriage and divorce are adjudicated by Orthodox rabbinical authorities. Reform of the rabbinical courts has been identified as one of the Network's main goals, and American Jewish feminists supported the organization through the New Israel Fund in connection with this work.[26] IWN was listed alongside G.E.T.—Getting Equitable Treatment, Agunah Inc., and Kayama as a nationwide advocacy organization addressing cases of agunot—women denied a religious divorce, or get, by their husbands.[27]

The Network has also challenged the exclusion of women from mixed-gender public spaces, which it describes as a major threat to equality and women's welfare in Israeli society.[28] Its project aims to map the phenomenon in Jewish and Arab society, influence public discourse, employ legislation, regulation, enforcement, litigation, lobbying, and education, and develop solutions addressing the relationship between freedom of religion and the effects of exclusion on women.[28]

IWN holds special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and engages with the United Nations, UN Women, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women on gender-equality standards.[29] The Israeli government's core human-rights document credits the organization with a commitment to advancing the status of all women in Israel regardless of race, religion, or socioeconomic background.[5]

The Network's international department works to build a worldwide network of feminist and human-rights organizations and to share knowledge and coordinate action on women in positions of power, employment segregation, gender discrimination, equal opportunity, and domestic and sexual violence.[29] In November 2024, IWN joined seven other Jewish women's organizations in drafting a letter backed by 57 additional groups and sent to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.[30] The letter called for Hamas's documented use of sexual violence to be designated a crime against humanity, for Hamas to be listed in the Secretary-General's report on conflict-related sexual violence, and for states to adopt an international protocol for responding to such crimes.[30] Executive Director Tal Hochman called for a protocol to standardize evidence gathering, streamline legal processes, and ease prosecution of conflict-related sexual violence.[30]

In January 2025, IWN and the Women and War Documentation and Research Collective released a joint report concerning Israel's response to sexual violence during and after the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack.[31] The report alleged systematic governmental failures, including unimplemented United Nations resolutions, ignored civil-society warnings, insufficient governmental expertise, and the absence of an official transparent account of war crimes and sexual violence.[31] Hochman stated that more than a year after the attack, there was no guarantee that the state would respond differently if similar events occurred again.[31]

Beyond litigation and lobbying, IWN has used creative public events to advance its mission. In December 2021, while the Miss Universe competition was being held in Eilat, the Network organized an alternative event called "Miss Fix Universe" at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Tel Aviv.[32] The event presented women's activism in human rights, democracy, environmental protection, equality, and social justice as an alternative to judging women by appearance.[32]

The event attracted 243 participants, approximately 65,000 people visited its website, and approximately 50,000 votes were cast.[33] Three projects—"The Shame Changes Sides," job360, and the Lobby to Combat Sexual Violence—received grants of NIS 30,000 each.[33] The Network has also maintained a newsletter and resource center and, as described by incoming CEO Einat Fisher-Lalou, has sought to combine policy work with education and awareness building while pursuing "deep dialogue alongside protest."[34]

IWN has made substantial contributions to Israeli law and public life. The Israeli government's core human-rights document credits its impact litigation with producing practical changes in maternity rights, labor conditions, and employment disputes affecting women.[5] The Network has been associated with many feminist breakthroughs in Israel, received the President's Award, and obtained consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.[5][2]

Alice Shalvi said that during her approximately 15 years heading the organization, IWN helped change the legal status of women in Israel through consciousness raising, litigation, and legislation.[9] The organization also placed women's health on the public agenda and contributed to the establishment of women's health centers in Israeli hospitals.[12] Its reported achievements include promoting women's representation on public-company boards, opening additional military positions to women, advancing legislation against sexual harassment, promoting broader application of equal-pay law, and advancing protective labor legislation.[1]

IWN published a 2006 Annual Report and has produced a publication recounting its history since its establishment.[35][11] It remains active in Israeli feminism, advocating improvements for women at multiple levels and serving as a watchdog for incidents of unfairness toward women.[2][35]

In September 2024, chairwoman Daphna Hacker drew criticism after reportedly stating that she would not advocate for additional women from Israel's then-current government because, in her view, some were anti-feminist.[36] Critics argued that this position conflicted with the organization's self-description as a "feminist nonpartisan civil society organization."[36]

The Jewish Women's Archive characterizes IWN's success as having led to an undesirable degree of politicization and notes that, although it lost some of its earlier prominence, it remains active.[2] Accounts of IWN's role in legislative and military achievements generally describe the organization's attributed influence rather than establishing exclusive causation, as lawmakers, individual petitioners, and other civil-society organizations also participated.[12][13]

The estimate that more than 200,000 women lived in situations of domestic violence was cited in successive U.S. Department of State reports, but those reports did not provide its underlying methodology.[23][24] Similarly, historical trafficking figures were presented by a secondary source as claims associated with an IWN report rather than as independently verified data.[25]