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.
Selected position papers
Position papers
The documents and links already available on the site, without filling in missing material.
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.
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 pamphletRabbi Kreuzer's responsum on women in political parties
A further halakhic ruling, addressing the question of women joining political parties directly. The document will be published here.
document to be uploadedQ & 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.
#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.