Tel-Chai Nation

The Israeli supreme court's told the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party they have to stop preventing women from running for Knesset on their ticket:

In a historic decision, the High Court of Justice on Thursday gave the ultra-Orthodox party Agudat Israel 21 days to remove all barriers to women being party members, and thereby running for places on the party list and representing it in the Knesset.

The decision could have direct ramifications for any political party whose constitution is deemed discriminatory.

The petition against the Agudat Israel charter was filed by 10 women's groups led by the nonprofit Itach – Women Lawyers for Social Justice. The petition argued that the article in the party charter violates women's equality and their basic right to be elected to public office.

Although the petition specifically addresses the Agudat Israel charter, none of the haredi parties in Israel have any female MKs.

Thankfully, whatever their politics, Itach's not a social justice movement in the same way as many radical leftists overseas are. And a valid point can be made that by refusing to have women run on their lists, the Haredi parties are drawing attention away from more pressing issues like Islamic terrorism, giving leftists ammunition to use against Judaism, no matter how socialist the Haredi parties happen to be. They can now prove they're open to making positive changes for the better, by arranging for women to run on their ticket for the upcoming election.

Labels: haredi corruption, Israel, Knesset, misogyny, Moonbattery, political corruption