The results of the latest Knesset elections tell a remarkable story about Israel’s religious Zionist community.
A community long associated primarily with a single sectoral political party has become a major force in Israel’s national leadership. Its members are now active in nearly every sphere of public life, and their presence in the newly elected Knesset is particularly striking.
According to Prof. Asher Cohen of Bar-Ilan University, religious Zionists are the most overrepresented group in the Knesset. Approximately 24 members of the new Knesset belong to this community, depending on how they are defined and classified.
That is roughly 20% of all MKs, a proportion significantly higher than their share of Israel’s population. Only six were elected on the Religious Zionist Party list; the others were elected through different political parties.
This is a story of integration into Israeli society and a growing willingness to assume broader national responsibility. Religious Zionism has moved beyond the boundaries of sectoral politics and established itself within Israel’s national leadership.
Yet this success is largely a story about men. Religious Zionist women, some of whom already lead major public and social institutions, remain far less visible at the tables where decisions are made.
This raises an obvious question: Where are all the women?
The answer is neither simple nor unique to religious Zionism.
In the latest elections, 33 women were elected to the Knesset, a record. This is welcome progress and certainly worth celebrating.
Yet even after this achievement, women account for only about 28% of Knesset members. Women make up approximately half of Israel’s population but remain far from equally represented in the country’s most influential decision-making bodies.
Another finding published this week by the Knesset Research and Information Center illustrates the gap: not a single woman heads any of the 11 party lists elected to the Knesset, and only two women were placed second on their respective lists.
In other words, even as more women enter the Knesset, the path to the highest levels of political leadership remains a long one.
For religious Zionist women, the challenge is particularly complex. They face the barriers confronting women throughout Israeli society, alongside leadership traditions and patterns of advancement that have developed over decades in predominantly male environments.
The issue is not necessarily overt opposition to female leadership, but rather familiar mechanisms of selection and promotion: Who is seen as a natural candidate? Who is encouraged to step forward? Who receives public support? And who must repeatedly prove that they deserve a seat at the table?
And yet, over recent decades, Israel has seen the emergence of a generation of highly educated religious Zionist women with extensive professional experience, strong management skills, and impressive records of public leadership.
They lead organizations and institutions, bringing a distinctive combination of deep commitment to tradition and community, an understanding of Israel’s diverse society, and proven experience in managing complex systems.
Their talents are an asset to Israeli society as a whole, not merely to the community from which they come.
That is precisely why responsibility for advancing these women cannot rest solely with religious political parties or religious-Zionist institutions.
It extends to everyone who appoints board members, selects representatives for public committees, assembles leadership teams, identifies candidates for senior positions, and helps shape Israel’s national leadership.
The women are there. The talent is there. The experience is there.
Women to shape Israel's future
What is needed now is a willingness among institutions to recognize these women, as well as women’s willingness to see themselves as natural candidates for leadership positions and influence.
This does not mean that every woman must pursue a political career, or that representation in every institution must be divided equally between women and men. But a society that seeks to appoint the most qualified people to its most influential positions cannot afford to overlook such a significant share of its talent.
Religious Zionism also has an opportunity here. A community that has broken free of the notion that its place is confined to a sectoral political party can, and should, challenge outdated assumptions about who is qualified to lead.
A community that has successfully developed a broad range of national leaders can play a significant role in cultivating the next generation of leadership, women and men alike.
Israel does not need fewer religious Zionist leaders. It needs the talented women who have emerged from this community to play a far greater role in shaping its future.
Not just for their sake. For all of us.
The writer is the chairwoman of Emunah Israel, the Religious Zionist Women’s Movement.