Dr. Michael Ben-Ari was the only Knesset Member to vote against a proposed law to double the potential length of maternity leave, and a leading women’s group has reacted by demanding an investigation against him for incitement. In response, Ben-Ari says he will sue them for slander, to the tune of 250,000 shekels.
Ben-Ari took part in Wednesday's Knesset vote on the preliminary reading of a bill to double women’s maternity leave from three to six months. Sixty MKs voted in favor, one abstained, and only one voted against – Ben-Ari.
In explaining his vote, Ben-Ari told the Knesset: “Let’s say I have an accounting office. A brilliant female accountant comes in and says, ‘I would like to work for you.’ I hire her, give her a few important accounts that my prestigious firm depends on, and she begins work. One day she comes to me and says, ‘Wish me mazel tov! I’m pregnant and due to give birth.’ I congratulate her; thank G-d, we’re happy when more children are born. She leaves for three months of maternity leave, while back at the office we choke under the load, but we manage to hold on for the three months. Suddenly, after the three months, she says to me, ‘It wasn’t enough, dear Mr. Boss, and the law allows me to stay home for another 12 weeks.’ I say to her, ‘But we can’t do it, everything is collapsing when you’re not here…’ Suddenly, I realize – whether I run an accounting office, a legal firm, or whatever else: The next time I have to hire someone, and a man and a woman both apply, I’ll take the man and his month of reserve duty, instead of the six months of maternity leave for a woman…”
The director of the legal department of the Women’s Lobby, Attorney Shirley Shlomiuk-Bavai, said that Ben-Ari was essentially granting legitimacy to employers who choose not to employ women of child-bearing age simply because they might wish to implement a legal right to utilize or extend their maternity leave. “This is a blatant violation of the ethical guidelines that obligate Knesset Members,” she said.
The women's group turned to both the Attorney General and the Knesset Ethics Committee, asking for an investigation into Ben-Ari's remarks. It also demands that "sharp sanctions" be taken against him.
In response, MK Ben-Ari has threatened to sue the Women’s Lobby for 250,000 shekels for slandering him. “Their response to my speech proves that they are guided by cheap populism," Ben-Ari said. "They themselves are against this law. My parliamentary aide is a woman, and I work with women, and the claims against me are fraudulent lies.”