Women's Representation and Peace in Israel: 25 Years After UN Security Council Resolution 1325
Photo by REUTERS
The pictures the world has seen of the Middle East lately, such as the event at the Knesset hosting US President Donald Trump and the Sharm el-Sheikh peace conference, display a huge diversity of religions, worldviews, and perspectives. Nonetheless, one similarity between the pictures from each event is striking: women were almost entirely absent from every single photograph.
This week, on October 31, 2025, the world will mark the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325—a groundbreaking pronouncement that called, for the first time in the Security Council, for the integration of women in decision-making forums in all fields, especially on issues of peace and security; for the protection of women, especially in conflict zones; and for the integration of gender perspectives into public policy in all areas of life. Yet the photographs of world events lately would seem to indicate that this was just another well-intentioned resolution that has not brought about any real change.
However, over the years since it was passed, Resolution 1325 has had a significant impact on the “women, peace, and security” approach—which recognizes the importance of women's participation in building lasting peace and the disproportionate impact of conflict on women—in many countries. No fewer than 115 states have published national action plans that include long-term strategies for implementing the principles enshrined in the resolution.
In certain countries (some of which have already published three rounds of plans), it is clear that this has ,led to significant change. For example, in countries such as Australia, Finland, Sweden, South Africa, Spain, and Argentina, which have adopted action plans, women’s representation in parliament ranges from 42% to 45%. It is true that numerical representation is only a necessary but not sufficient condition; without it, however, it is difficult if not impossible for equality to be achieved. While there is no way to accurately determine the direct contribution of such action plans to the increase in numerical representation, there is no doubt that they constitute a clear and tangible expression of the importance that these countries attach to this issue in government policy.
In this context, Israel was the first country in the world to translate Resolution 1325 into legislation in 2005, requiring appropriate representation of women from diverse population groups in public bodies, with an emphasis on the field of peace and security. And although in addition to this law, a government decision was passed in 2014 declaring preparations for formulating a national action plan, a comprehensive national action plan has yet to be published, legislation requiring women’s representation in peace and security processes is almost non-existent, and now Israel, despite the progress made, finds itself far behind.
In recent years, a dramatic new factor has had an impact on the implementation of the “women, peace, and security” approach in Israel, as in many other countries, in addition to the existence or absence of strategic planning for gender equality and government commitment to the issue: democratic backsliding. This trend, which has appeared in many countries, negatively affects all aspects of the status of women, and in particular their representation in decision-making forums. Thus, Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, which is committed to promoting Resolution 1325 worldwide, states that while women’s equal representation contributes to better responses to wars, democratic backsliding, and corruption, we are also seeing a counter-wave: anti-feminist movements influencing government policy are leading to a decline in women’s representation. Thus, in Canada and elsewhere, national plans emphasize that one of the main threats to women’s equality today is democratic erosion, conservative trends, and attempts to delegitimize women in the public sphere. In various countries—such as Poland and Croatia—these developments have been reflected not only in a decline in representation, but also in tighter restrictions on abortion.
It is no coincidence that a couple weeks ago the Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for Advancing Women in Peace and Security (Clinton herself launched the US National Plan for the Implementation of Resolution 1325 in 2011) was given to three women for their work to promote democracy and combat democratic backsliding (and not necessarily for their activism to promote gender equality). Explaining the reason for honoring journalist Anne Applebaum with the award, Clinton emphasized the connection between striving for women’s representation in the fields of security and peace efforts, and resisting and drawing attention to democratic regression—as Applebaum is doing in Poland and other countries.
Returning to the women-less photographs of our leaders: There is no need to elaborate on the existential need for Israel’s security on the one hand, and on the other hand, the almost complete absence of women in our decision-making forums, as seen, for example, in negotiations for the release of the hostages and end of the war. By contrast, the civilian arena has strongly featured the leadership of women who worked (and continue to work) tirelessly for the return of the hostages and ending the war, and the leadership of women standing against democratic backsliding. This contrast shows that the principles of Resolution 1325, despite the setbacks of recent years, can and should serve as a guiding light: to strengthen the role of women in Israel, from diverse population groups, so as to improve our shared chances of living here in peace and security.
This article was published in the Times of Israel
