נnivcharot
September 7, 2026View on Instagram
ADVOCACY, LAW & HALAKHA
From the feed, to the street,
to the Knesset and the Court.
Nivcharot believes state institutions bear responsibility for changing a reality in which Israel's most influential parties are a closed men's club. Alongside awareness work in the community, we act in every arena where decisions are made.
LAW & HALAKHA
The legal and halakhic arena
From the legal fight against party bylaws to the halakhic sources themselves: the written answers to whether any legal or halakhic barrier stands in the way of Haredi women's representation.
SUPREME COURT
The battle over party bylaws
From 2015 we were partners in the legal battle against bylaw clauses barring women from Haredi parties. After four years, in 2019, the Supreme Court ordered Agudat Yisrael to remove every barrier to women's membership. No more "No entry for women" sign.
Image, outside the Supreme Court
Selected position papers
Position papers
The documents and links already available on the site, without filling in missing material.
The right to welfare services, failures of Israel's welfare system (2024, Hebrew)link coming soonAll position papers (archive site, Hebrew)link coming soon
HALAKHA
What halakha itself says
The claim that halakha forbids women from being elected was the first wall we hit. To test it we went to the sources and the decisors, and collected the answers.
First ruling
The halakhic pamphlet, 2017
We clarified the halakhic position directly: the pamphlet presents Rabbi Y. Y. Weinberg's 1950 responsum, according to which there are three positions - those who forbid, those who permit, and those who distinguish between voting and standing. It was distributed to rabbis, community figures and the Haredi press.
→ The full pamphletSecond ruling
Rabbi Kreuzer's responsum on women in political parties
A further halakhic ruling, addressing the question of women joining political parties directly.
→ The full rulingQ & A
What people ask us
Six questions that come up in every interview, every home group and every comment thread.
In a survey we published, 59% of respondents said they would like to see Haredi women in the Knesset - 27% "very much" and 32% "somewhat" - against fewer than a quarter opposed. Among secular voters the figure was 65%. On the ground, 14 Haredi women ran in the last municipal elections and two were elected to councils. Source: Nivcharot survey; ynet, 23 March 2025
No. The halakhic pamphlet we published in 2017 sets out three positions on the question, following Rabbi Y. Y. Weinberg's responsum of 1950: some forbid it, some permit it, and some distinguish between voting and standing for election. It is a dispute, not a flat prohibition. Source: "Is a woman really forbidden to hold public office?", Nivcharot pamphlet, 2017
Party bylaws and political custom. In 2015 journalist Tal Schneider revealed that the Haredi parties' bylaws entrench the absence of women from their ranks. That is where the legal battle began.
Because amending the bylaws did not translate into actual membership. The Haredi parties have not opened to women in practice, and two petitions are now pending against Shas and Agudat Yisrael to allow women to join.
No. The purpose is an alternative Haredi leadership of women and men alike, equally and respectfully - not to replace Haredi leadership but to widen it.
Sarah Schenirer, who appears in our logo, rejected any feminist label herself and claimed what was due to her "according to the rights the Torah granted us" - and built the first girls' education network in the Haredi world. The question is not what to call it, but who sits at the table.
GATHERINGS
From the street to the Knesset committees
Public protest, the Knesset lobby and home discussion circles: the arenas where Nivcharot gathers people, on the ground and in the community, to move the wall.
Image, the Empty Chairs protest
#EMPTY_CHAIRS
The empty chair
Around the election rounds, the Empty Chairs protest placed the vacant chair as a symbol: the seat where a Haredi woman representative should sit, and doesn't. A simple visual act that became one of the struggle's most recognizable symbols.
KNESSET
Lobbying and position papers
"Lobbyladeinu", the Haredi women's lobby in the Knesset, brings the Haredi women's voice to committees and hearings, from the Committee on the Status of Women to the National Security Committee. Our position papers, on welfare, employment, health and education, go to the Knesset, government ministries and the UN.
COMMUNITY
Sicha circles and home groups
The Sicha project widens the circles of influence to include Haredi men, alongside home groups and community dialogue circles. After October 2023 we helped found "Harediyot Shutafot", Haredi women organizing support for soldiers and the home front.
GATHERINGS, ON FILM
Conferences, screenings & galleries
Every event and its photo gallery.
Galleries will be added here soon.
From the archive · position papers and legislation
September 26, 2026A precedent before the lists close: this is the woman running for the Haredi partyThe Haredi Public party, led by Moti Leitner, is considering reserving Dr. Nechumi Yaffe, a researcher of political and social psychology in Haredi society and a senior faculty member at Tel Aviv University, for second place on its candidate list. Yaffe, who founded the central Haredi war room during the war, in which tens of thousands of Haredim took part, may become the first Haredi woman in a realistic slot on a Haredi party's list.Sep 8, 2026Two Women at the Top: Haredi Party's Full List RevealedA Kipa News article (September 8, 2026) on the "Haredi Public" party, led by Moti Leitner, filing its list for the 26th Knesset: Moti Leitner in first place, Asher Fredi in second, Dr. Nechumi Yaffe in third, and Ziva Glantz in fourth. Per the article, placing two women in the list's first four slots is a notable precedent for an existing Haredi party. Glantz led a campaign to include core curriculum studies in Talmud Torah schools.Sep 7, 2026First Woman in a Haredi Party: Dr. Nechumi Yaffe Placed Second on the Haredi Public ListAn article by Aaron Rubinowitz and Yael Friedson (September 7, 2026) on Dr. Nechumi Yaffe, a researcher of political and social psychology at Tel Aviv University and a former adviser to the National Security Council on Haredi-sector affairs, being placed on the "Haredi Public" party's list, led by Moti Leitner, ahead of the 26th Knesset elections. Despite the headline, this isn't the first time, and Yaffe was actually placed third, not second: alongside her, in fourth place, is Ziva Glantz, who led a campaign to include core curriculum studies in Talmud Torah schools. In 2021 Hila Chason Lefkowitz, a Nivcharot alumna, held second place on the "Am Shalem" list led by Rabbi Chaim Amsalem for the 24th Knesset, and in 2015 Ruth Kolian founded a separate Haredi women's party, "Bizchutan." Per the article, the party did not merge with other lists, and polling suggests it is not expected to clear the electoral threshold.09/08The Woman Challenging the Haredi World Shakes Its Foundations: "There's a Powder Keg Here"The CEO of "No Voice, No Vote" wants to shake the foundations, drive real change in the community she comes from, and advance women's election to the Knesset from within Shas and United Torah Judaism too, an interview with Sari Makover-Belikov.