Israeli women's groups filed a complaint to the United Nations Security Council on Monday, accusing Israel of failing to implement Resolution 1325. The resolution requires parties in a conflict to promote women's participation in peace negotiations and the implementation of peace initiatives.
In addition, the resolution calls on member states to promote “gender-sensitive training efforts” and to consider “the particular needs of women.” It is based on the assumption that “civilians, particularly women and children, account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict.” The Knesset adopted the resolution in 2005, five years after it passed a UN vote.
Israel has failed to appoint women to senior positions, the women's groups claimed. According to their complaint, Israel has not appointed women from varying social and religious groups to decision-making positions in the political and social realms.
Among the groups that filed the complaint were The Israel Women's Network, Sister—On Behalf of Israeli Women, Woman to Woman: the Haifa Feminist Center, and Temura: The Israeli Antidiscrimination Legal Center.
Among the women currently in government are Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, head of the ruling Kadima party, Education Minister Yuli Tamir, Minister of Tourism Ruhama Avraham Balila, Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, and 14 other MKs (Avital, Dotan, Gal-On, Greenfield, Hilou, Landver, Livnat, Shalev, Noked, Shemtov, Solodkin, Tartman, Tirosh and Yechimovich).
Attorney Anat Tahon Ashkenazi of “Itach—Women Lawyers for Social Justice,” another of the groups that filed the complaint, said Israel had not included women in important decisions such as the decision to go to war. She called on the government to include women in decision-making, particularly in light of rumors of a major IDF operation in Gaza in the near future.
"The strong winds of war these days prove the need for women to be integrated in leadership and decision-making,” Ashkenazi said. “The voices of Mizrachi, Arab, Bedouin and Hareidi women, women who live with poverty and violence, must be heard, because they are the ones who pay the highest price for international conflict.”
The women's groups dismissed the current female MKs and ministers as insufficient. Only 20 women are expected to be elected to the next Knesset, they said.