Michaeli: Appointing token woman is paying lip service to equality; MKs Lavie, Gal-On write to Netanyahu, requesting that more women be added to committee.
By LAHAV HARKOVLimor Livnat(photo credit: Yoav Dudkevich)
Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat joined the ministerial committee to increase equality in national service Wednesday night, after several female MKs complained that there were no women on the panel led by Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Peri.Still, MK Merav Michaeli (Labor) said that one female minister is not enough.“We cannot continue being satisfied by having one woman – however excellent she may be – in a group of men,” Michaeli said. “The woman is a fig leaf to cover the shame of those who appointed the committee.”Michaeli called for women, not just one woman, to be on all committees so they can have an influence.“All we want is equality in the burden,” she added.Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women chairwoman Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid), who sent a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asking that he appoint a woman to the committee, thanked him for appointing Livnat.“It’s clear to all that the decisions made by the committee will have a direct influence on the status and advancement of women in the IDF and in all of society; therefore, it is essential that women take part in the process,” she stated.Earlier this week, Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On also sent a letter to Netanyahu lamenting the lack of a female on the panel.“There is no replacement for female representatives in all areas of decision-making, and there is no excuse for their absence from ministerial committees and other public bodies,” she said.According to Gal-On this should be the rule in all areas, but is especially important in the area of haredi enlistment.“Today there are already military bases with haredi battalions that women are not allowed to enter. It’s clear that the amount of haredim that enter the army and the way they are integrated has a major influence on the status of women in the IDF and society,” she explained.In addition, the Meretz leader said, “despite the obsessive dealings with ‘equality in the burden,’ questions of true equality don’t really interest the new government.”
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