Gender and Democracy

Our Gender and Democracy program seeks to enhance a comprehensive democracy that provides an inclusive, participatory system that ensures full civil and human rights. Realizing that gender is a fundamental factor in shaping societies, we try to promote a political culture that prioritizes Gender Democracy values and practices on all levels.

For more information please contact the component's coordinator Inbal Shtivi: inbal.shtivi@il.boell.org

Voting for Equality?

Interview

Interview with Ghaida Rinawie-Zoabi on her candidacy for Meretz and the prospects for Jewish-Arab equality

By Steffen Hagemann and Inbal Shtivi

Jewish and Arab members of the coronavirus team at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel. Coutesy of Dr. Yasmin Diab (second from right)

Can the COVID-19 Crisis Become a Turning Point Toward a Shared Society in Israel?

In Israel, as in other parts of the world, the COVID-19 virus crisis is not only a health challenge

By Edan Ring and Kholod Edres

A “Green New Deal“ for Israel?

Interview

Creating Political Will for Green and Progressive Policies in the Next Government of Israel - Interview with outgoing Knesset Member Dov Khenin, March 2019

By Elisheva Gilad

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Asylum seeker children cross the street in south Tel Aviv, March 17, 2020. (Oren Ziv)

Outrunning a Catastrophe, Together: Assisting asylum seekers in Israel during the Coronavirus Crisis

The first confirmed Covid-19 patient in Israel was diagnosed three months ago on February 21st, 2020. Less than a month later, on March 14th, a countrywide lockdown was announced, which included a total shutdown of all restaurants and hotels as well as most other work places.

By Dr. Ayelet Oz

Alleged Voter Fraud: The Most Dangerous Lie

Had there not been so many political storylines in the news avalanche ahead of Israel’s second general election in 2019, one might have been inclined to see it as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last straw: On September 3, two weeks before the voters again went to the polling stations, Netanyahu went public with the allegation that had it not been for widespread voter fraud in Israeli-Arab communities in the April election, his right-wing coalition would have passed the 61-seat threshold needed to gain a majority in the Knesset.

By Henning Christian Lahmann

Ballots papers of Israeli legislative election, 2019

Israeli Elections 2019 – Round Two

Between triumph and failure lay only six weeks: On the night of April 9, 2019, Benjamin Netanyahu was celebrating with his followers as the shining winner of the Israeli parliamentary election. Once again, Netanyahu seemed to have made it, despite allegations of corruption and a broad-based opposition campaign against the continuation of the Israeli Prime Minister's right-wing coalition. On May 30, however, Netanyahu had to admit his failure – he had failed to forge a viable coalition within the six-week deadline. In order to prevent the Israeli president from giving the opposition candidate the task of forming a government, the newly established Israeli parliament (the 21st Knesset) dissolved in a Likud led maneuver just before Netanyahu’s deadline and voted for new elections on September 17, 2019.

By Steffen Hagemann, Romy Shapira and Elisheva Gilad

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Latest publications

Climate Justice and Migration

Study

The publication offers perspectives on the complex relationships between climate change and migration and questions pessimistic basic assumptions on security issues and supposedly necessary (market-oriented) adaptation measures, which currently predominate in the political debates on the topic.

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Handbook of Organizational Gender Consultation and Intervention

The Handbook of Organizational Gender Consultation and Intervention, published in 2019 by the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, is the first guide of its kind. Its aim is to provide a professional toolbox for men and women operating as agents of gender equality in modern organizations, either formally (appointees, consultants, and individuals responsible for equal opportunity and gender equality) or informally (as feminists aiming to promote change in the organization or in their institutional field).

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New trends in human trafficking which exploit the asylum system in Israel

Since 2016 there has been a sharp rise in the number of Ukranians and Georgians applying for asylum in Israel. Data collected by the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants (HRM) shows that Israeli entities, including human resource companies, are involved in this rise by spreading mis-information in the the Ukraine and Georgia about the possibility of working legally in Israel. They charge large sums of money as agents’ fees, and they may also be involved, to varying degrees, in selling fake documentation.

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