ISRAEL-ELECTION/ORTHODOX WOMEN Ultra-Orthodox Jewish women hopeful to win seats in next parliament

Record ID: 399277

  • Title: ISRAEL-ELECTION/ORTHODOX WOMEN Ultra-Orthodox Jewish women hopeful to win seats in next parliament
  • Date: 11th March 2015
  • Summary: BEIT SHEMESH, ISRAEL (MARCH 10, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS B'ZCHUTAN PARTY LEADERS, KNESSET CANDIDATES, RUTH COLIAN AND NOA EREZ, CAMPAIGNING IN ULTRA-ORTHODOX COMMUNITY FOLLOWED BY MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) CANDIDATE ON B'ZCHUTAN PARTY LIST, NOA EREZ, SAYING: "We chose to represent the unheard voice of Orthodox women. Ultra Orthodox women suffer from violence, suffer from d
  • Embargoed: 26th March 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1LBC1BT9TEBGP212JXAEDNQNA
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    B'Zchutan is one of the several smallest and newest parties taking part in election race for seats in Israeli parliament, or Knesset.
    It means 'Thanks to them' in Hebrew and refers to Ultra-Orthodox Haredi women who have chosen to confront their religious community's traditional beliefs about women's role and place in the modern Israeli society.
    Among other things B'Zchutan demands that ultra-Orthodox women enjoy same rights as secular Israeli women and campaign for better access to employment, education, have more say in their community. The party wants to reform the Rabbinical court and make sure that rights of women are adequately protected including the fair treatment of women in divorce procedures.
    "We are changing the national agenda because the fair share of responsibility begins with real equality. Join us at B'Zchutan," said the leader of Israel's first ultra-Orthodox Jewish women's party, 34-year-old mother of four, Ruth Colian in the party's election advert ran by national channels ahead of general polls.
    Nine candidates from B'Zchutan will compete for seats in 120-seat Knesset on March 17.
    "We chose to represent the unheard voice of Orthodox women. Ultra-Orthodox women suffer from violence, suffer from discrimination and nobody cares," said Noa Erez who together with Ruth spent Tuesday (March 10) night campaigning in the town of Beit Shemesh where ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as Haredim, a term in Hebrew which means "those who tremble before God", make up about 40 percent of the town's 80,000 population.
    Recent polls so far showed that the party had slim chances of getting enough votes to get in but that has not discouraged the candidates from continuing with the race often facing hostile response from the Haredi community.
    "This is not your neighbourhood, do not come here, do not cause any trouble," said a woman in Beit Shemesh refusing to take a campaign flyer from Ruth.
    "I don't want anything to do with you," she added in a heated argument.
    All attempts to explain their election platform looked lost with confrontational residents.
    "She is entitled to demand to have a man representing women and this will be allowed," said Yitzhak.
    For Noa Erez, who is the second candidate on the party list after Ruth, facing hostility from her Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community is nothing new.
    "I received threats on the phone. I was being spat on in the street. It feels bad but I don't let go. I'm determined to go through to the end. I know that if I don't fight today this will become my children's future. I'm not going to sit idly by," said 31-year-old Noa, also a mother of four.
    Both Ruth's and Noa's families are supportive of their political ambitions.
    The town of Beit Shemesh, 35 km (22 miles) west of Jerusalem, gained notoriety in 2011 after an eight-year-old girl from a more liberal religious community was spat at by ultra-Orthodox men who deemed her clothes immodest. Several protests, some violent, have erupted over religious issues since.
    After a few heated debates between the candidates and the residents police arrived to secure that any confrontation stays verbal.
    "Women do not need to be in the Knesset at all. It is not modest... They do not need to be in the Knesset, especially when they claim to be Orthodox. This is an act of defiance of God's law. Are they representing Orthodox women? No, they represent themselves. We do not need this... What is it good for? What are they going to do? Nothing, only create mess," said Meir, getting angry with the women candidates.
    "I think that women who think that their role is in the Knesset don't understand what a woman is. A real religious woman usually has a husband, and her husband has a mouth, and her husband could work for her to publicise what she wants and what she thinks and they work together in the home. And the woman that doesn't believe that her place is in the home, she sees herself in a higher place than her husband is, this is a problem," added a female resident who asked not to be named.
    Haredim comprise about 10 percent of Israel's eight million population. They are mostly poor and unemployed, with many men pursuing religious studies full-time. They receive small state stipends for a traditional life of study, and child benefits for their large families.
    Only one Haredi woman, Racheli Ibenboim, has served in the Knesset so far representing left-wing Meretz Party. In 2013 she said that she had to withdraw her candidacy for the Jerusalem City Council after she and her family had received threats from the community.
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