Israel Needs More Women on Local Councils

For local government to be able to truly represent all residents and understand the diversity of their different needs, it is important that there be appropriate representation of men and women alike

There’s no need for World Day for Cultural Diversity (marked last week) to remind us that the Knesset and government are not exactly paragons when it comes to female representation, to put it mildly. Today, with the local elections only five and a half months away, we need to realize that from this perspective, the situation in the local government is even worse.

In the last round of elections in 2018, only 6% of those elected as mayors and heads of local or regional councils were women. Some 16% of the members of municipal and local councils are women; their percentage on regional councils is 19%.

These figures, which are low in comparison to other democracies, reflect the many barriers that women come up against in Israeli politics. The situation is incompatible with the principle of equality, detracts from representation of the needs of women from diverse groups, and flies in the face of basic liberal-democratic principles and Israel’s international commitments.

But it’s not too late to improve the situation. A key line of action is for all voters to realize the importance of equal representation of women on candidate lists and to treat this issue as a major consideration when going to the polls.

Also important are the various initiatives by women’s organizations and the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women, which encourage women to run in local elections and help them do so.

It must be understood that along with achieving equality, the representation of women is also crucial to ensure that the interests and needs of all groups in society are reflected when local governments devise their policies.

This has become especially important in recent years, as the municipal level is finally realizing that men and women have different needs, for example, in their use of public transportation, municipal facilities and parks, and in employment and social services.

Even the small number of streets named for women highlights their marginalization in the urban public space.

Why women are needed in Israeli government, local councils

AN ANALYSIS of bills submitted to the Knesset, conducted by Avital Friedman and Dr. Chen Friedberg of the Israel Democracy Institute, found that a majority of the bills intended to protect women against violence, or to promote their economic well-being, were sponsored and pushed by women MKs. This provides a good indicator that equal representation of women in local government would advance their specific and often unique needs.

It seems, however, that for the present, we cannot rely exclusively on a shift in the public mindset that would produce a dramatic change. Also important are the various initiatives by women’s organizations, and the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women, that aim to encourage women to run in local elections and help them do so. The change will come about only if the Knesset acts now to pass legislation to encourage it.

Such tools are common in other democracies, where candidate lists must satisfy statutory conditions of gender parity. These include Spain, Belgium, France, Slovenia, South Korea and some jurisdictions in Italy. In other countries, there are “softer” mechanisms, in the form of monetary incentives.

For example, a list that does not meet the threshold may receive less state funding for elections (Portugal and some jurisdictions in Italy). Studies of the issue have revealed that such mechanisms are an effective way to bolster women’s representation. In countries where there are guarantees for representations at the local level, the proportion of women on local councils is greater; even more important, the trend to increase female representation is stronger.

Israel adopted such a mechanism before the elections in 2018. A list made up of at least one-third of women elected to the local council, who are still in office a year after the election, receives an additional 15% of election financing, which it is entitled to by law. This was certainly a positive step and influenced several lists. In a debate last week in the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, party directors-general said that this was a consideration for them.

Nevertheless, at least in 2018, the impact was not great: The percentage of women on municipal and local councils increased only from 13% to 16%; the percentage of factions with at least one-third of women elected to the council increased from 17% to 20%.

To further increase women’s representation, the first requirement is to enlarge the financial bonus for lists that satisfy the criteria – from a moderate 15% to a more significant 30%. Second, there should be an incentive to place women higher on the list. For example, a larger bonus could be given to a list with a woman in one of the first two slots or with total parity of the sexes.

Third, it is also important to encourage women to present their candidacy for local government positions, especially in view of the significant power of mayors and council heads. Here, the situation is particularly gloomy: In the last election, only 9% of the candidates (and, as noted, 6% of those elected) were women. One way to encourage women to run for office would be to make it easier for women who are running for mayor or head of council to receive funding.

In times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the current campaign against the local property tax fund, the significance of local authorities in ensuring citizens’ welfare is even more obvious.

But for local government to be able to truly represent all residents and understand the diversity of their different needs, in the spirit of the imperative for diversity in all government authorities, it is important that there be appropriate representation of men and women alike.

The article was first published in the Jerusalem Post.