Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber on Thursday criticized the phenomenon of gender-separate beaches, which are used by religious beach-goers during the summer months.
According to Zilber, the separate beaches for men and women may "cause disproportionate harm to the freedom of movement and the right to dignity of members of the gender who are not allowed to cross [into the section of the other gender]."
According to a report on the Walla website, Zilber argued in response to requests by the Reform Center for Religion and State that the separate beaches in Bat Yam and Herzliya forbade men or women to cross the edge of the coastal strip and the nearby promenade during separate bathing days.
The Reform Center also claimed that "inspectors appointed on behalf of the municipality threatened to fine women who wanted to pass this route during separate bathing days for men."
Zilber, wrote in response to the Reform Center that "this activity, which enables the realization of the adaptation of certain beaches to the needs of the religious population which wishes to bathe in separation, is worthy."
However, she continued: "as long as the coastal strip is wide enough to allow a barrier between the passage between the beaches and the separate bathing area, the closure of the passage for women or men across the entire coastal strip, even though it is done by virtue of existing authority of the law, may result in disproportionate harm to freedom of movement and the right to dignity of the genders who are not allowed to cross."
Zilber called on the authorities to create a new barrier that does not restrict anyone's freedom of movement while allowing the religious beach-goers to swim in privacy.