Exclusion of women is a social situation that exists in many cultures, in which women are distanced and/or prohibited from participate in the leadership and/or management of the public space through various means and in through sections of society. In Israel this situation has manifested itself in various occasions such as denying the rights of women to serve in certain positions in the Israel Defense Forces, not assigning Jewish ultra-religious women to the Knesset lists or to lists of the local municipalities, in Mehadrin bus lines where the female passengers are sit at the back of the bus by the community which believes this separation between men and women is necessary, in cases of prevention and/or corruption of public advertisements which presents images of women,[1][2], and the existence of a supposedly "Glass ceiling" which prevents the advancement of women to senior positions in the Israeli society.
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In Israel the Halakha law, which has a significant impact on the life of the entire Jewish population in the country, differentiate the rights and obligations of Jewish women from those of Jewish men. One of the characteristics of the discrimination is the exclusion of women from various activities - according to the Halakha law women are forbidden from taking judicial and religious leadership roles in society and are not allowed to be treasurers, cantors or preachers. Exclusion of women also takes place in the secular Israeli society, for different reasons than those of the religious Israeli society.
In many communities in Israel women are not allowed to participate in military activities, and/or take part in public leadership roles, such as mayoral positions, becoming company managers or CEOs, becoming members of the Knesset or the government, etc.
A notable early case of exclusion of women occurred in January 1986 when the Israeli female teacher Leah Shakdiel was grated membership in the religious council of Yeruham, but the Minister of Religious Affairs Zvulun Hammer canceled her membership on the grounds that women should not serve in that capacity. In early 1987 a petition was submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court regarding this incident. The Supreme Court precedent-setting ruling was unanimously accepted in Shakdiel's favor, and in 1988 Shakdiel became the first woman in Israel to serve in a religious council.[3]
In November 8, 1995, while she was a student of aeronautics at the Technion as part of the academic reserve, Alice Miller submitted a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court against the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the IDF for refusing to accept her to the pilot selection phase in the Israeli Air Force flight academy. Following her appeal Miller experienced a derogatory and chauvinistic reactions from various officials includes the Israeli president Ezer Weizman, who told her: "Listen maideleh, have you ever seen a man knitting socks? Have you ever seen a female surgeon or a female being a conductor of an orchestra? Women are not able to withstand the pressures required for fighter pilots."[4] The Israeli Supreme Court accepted the petition and ordered the IDF to compare the rights of women to those of men.
Following the petition various Israeli military units whom in hitherto did not have any women, began accepting women to their forces, including the Israeli Air Force flight academy, the Israeli navy officers' course, various artillery courses, the Israeli air defense and the Israeli Border Police. The amendment to the Security Service which was enacted in January 2000, completed the Supreme Court ruling as it defined the rights of female soldiers to volunteer to combat professions. Since the amendment was enacted, many Israeli women were accepted to the pilot selection phase in the Israeli Air Force flight academy some have even completed it successfully. Despite this, nowadays there are still various positions in the IDF in which women do not serve. In 2003 Yaara Stolberg filed a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court against the IDF's decision not to allow women to serve in the Machbet anti-aircraft unit. About six months after Stolberg completed her two year mandatory military service, the court denied the petition, stating it has become "irrelevant and theoretical".[5]
The Haredi political parties (Shas and United Torah Judaism) have never allowed women on their lists for Knesset elections.[6][7]
During late 2011 an extensive public debate began in the Israeli media regarding the issue of exclusion of women in the Israeli society, following several cases of exclusion on religious grounds. Various prominent Israeli public figures have expressed their opinion on this issue in the Israeli media, among their prominent politicians, members of Knesset, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu[8] and the President Shimon Peres.[9] In addition, during December 2011 the U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even criticized the exclusion of women in Israel and compared the situation in Israel to the situation in Iran.[10]