ARTICLE 12
Equality in Access to Health Care
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in the field of health care in order to ensure,
on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health services, including
those relating to family planning.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article, States
Parties shall ensure to women appropriate services in connection with
pregnancy, confinement, and the post-natal period, granting free services
where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.
1. Introduction
This chapter will examine various curative, preventative, physical, and mental
health care services available to Israeli women. In addition, it will examine
the relative states of health of men and women in Israel and will focus
specifically on reproductive health. There is absolutely no formal
discrimination against women regarding health care, nor are there treatments
for Israeli women which are contingent upon the approval or permission of
their partners or parents, including birth control. It should also be noted
that the subject of women's health has recently been the focus of attention,
particularly following the Beijing Conference. This is evidenced both by the
establishment of a steering committee on women's health needs by the Ministry
of Health, as well as by the special appointment of a researcher at the
National Center for Disease Control to collect data on women's health.
2. The Legal Framework
2.1. Introduction
While foundations for public health care were laid down in the National Health
Ordinance-1940, two recent laws relating to public health totally change the
framework of health care in Israel. The National Health Insurance Law-1994,
which went into effect on January 1, 1995, establishes a universal right to
health services in Israel, and the Patient's Rights Law-1996, grants statutory
recognition to patients' rights and physicians' duties. These two laws are a
source of pride for Israeli society; both are based on the principle of
equality and on the dignity and privacy of the individual.
2.2. The National Health Insurance Law
The law guarantees the right of every Israeli resident to health care
services. The principles of "justice, equality, and mutual aid" provide the
basis for its enactment. It obligates sick funds to accept all applicants as
members, and to provide them with a "basic basket of services." The
government is required to finance this basic basket of services by utilizing
the budget allocated to it under the law. The law's main source of funding is
revenues generated by health tax payments. The sick funds then receive their
funding directly from the government, which distributes it amongst the
different sick funds in a socially just manner.
2.2.1. Universal Coverage Under the National Health Insurance Law
Previously, membership in a sick fund was voluntary, leaving 200,000 Israeli
residents, including many children, without health insurance. The new law
makes membership in a sick fund mandatory and allows residents to join the
sick fund of their choice. This policy has a dual purpose: it encourages
competition amongst sick funds, and ensures that even citizens who are not in
good health, or would not otherwise be able to afford the membership in the
sick funds, will not be denied membership. An additional feature of the new
law is the right to choose the caregiver: patients have the right to be
treated by any of the doctors, hospitals, laboratories, or infirmaries with
which their sick funds are associated.
The new law specifies the services that must be provided in the basic basket
of health care. In addition, the law places certain services, such as
Mother-Child Clinics, under the direct responsibility of the Ministry of
Health. This service, previously provided directly from the Ministry of
Health, was to be transferred to the responsibility of the various sick funds,
like all other health services. However, when realizing that this could
jeopardize the goal of ensuring universal mother and child care irrespective
of economic considerations, the law was changed in 1996 in order to maintain
the government's direct responsibility for the provision of Mother-Child
Clinics.
2.3. The Health Tax
Under the new law, every adult regardless of gender is obligated to pay health
tax in order to cover the cost of the provision of the basic services.
The health tax is a progressive tax and is based on a member's income.
However, the law exempts homemakers, or "housewives," from paying the health
tax. As explained under Article 13 below, a "housewife" under the National
Insurance Law is defined as a "married woman whose partner is insured and only
provides domestic provisions for their own household, so that she is neither
an 'employee' nor is she 'independent.' "Housewife" exclusion stems from the
fact that health taxes are collected and handled as part of the Social
Security system. Since "housewives" are not insured according to the National
Insurance Law, they are not included in the data base of the Social Security
office (See Article 13).
While the new law ensures equality between men and women by charging married
working women and men equal membership dues, some married women who work
outside their homes now pay more for the coverage under the new law than they
paid under the old law. This is due to the fact that under the old law,
families were charged as single units, with married women receiving a 30%
discount on their dues.
2.4. Equality in Health Care
2.4.1. Eligibility
The criterion for eligibility is residency in Israel.
2.4.2. Differences in Needs as a Barrier to Equality in Israel
Under the new law, most common health care services are included in the
basic basket of services.
However, it denies coverage for contraceptives, abortions performed on the
grounds of extra-marital pregnancy (constituting the major cause for legal
abortions), and other various gynecological services. Moreover, the current
basket of services does not fully cover pre-and post-natal services.
Consequently, women must pay a fee in order to receive services at the
mother-child clinics.
Another source of inequality in the health-care system is the lack of
awareness of gender differences in the symptoms and development of specific
diseases, such as heart disease. For example, the director of heart and chest
surgery in one of Israel's leading hospitals was reported to have expressed a
concern in December 1996 as to the discrimination of women in the provision
of health care services relating to heart disease. The tools used to diagnose
heart disease amongst men are not effective in the diagnosis of women. In
addition, heart disease among women develops at a significantly slower rate
than heart disease among men. Consequently, doctors are more reluctant to
send women who complain about chest pains to be tested, and fewer women are
diagnosed in time. This causes women to be diagnosed at later stages of the
disease, when the rate of successful surgery decreases. Currently, the death
rate and number of complications from bypass surgery among women is 2-3 times
higher than among men (2-7%, as opposed to 1-4% among men).
3. Special Health Services for Women
3.1. Pre/Post Natal Services: Mother-Child Clinics
The Health Ministry reported in 1996 that according to a recent survey, 98% of
pregnant Israeli women receive pre-natal monitoring. Of those, 20% are
monitored by private doctors, and 80% are monitored through Mother-Child
clinics. These clinics offer high-quality and relatively inexpensive pre and
post-natal care to women on a neighborhood basis. In 1994, 435 such clinics
were in full operation. Despite recent attempts to change the focus of
Mother-Child clinics from pregnant women to family health, the main focus
continues to revolve around childbearing. Most Mother-Child clinics offer
pregnancy tests, check-ups, blood tests, nutrition advice, childbirth
preparation classes, child's inoculations and developmental monitoring, all at
an annual co-payment equivalent to about 35$. The co-payment is per family,
and services are never denied for lack of payment. However, as mentioned
above, these services are among the few that are not completely covered by the
basic-basket of health services.
3.2. Delivery Rooms and Maternity Wards
The current number of maternity wards and delivery rooms in Israel does not
meet present needs in Israel, due to a sharp rise in the number of births. In
1996 the National Council of Midwives and Gynecology presented the General
Manager of the Ministry of Health with a report which exposed serious
malfunctions in delivery rooms, particularly overcrowding and shortage of
staff (including midwives, doctors, and anesthesiologists).
3.3. Women's Health Clinics
In recent years, a number of well-equipped women's health centers have been
established to provide special services for high-risk pregnancies,
osteoporosis, and various health issues regarding mid-life.
3.4. Geriatric Services
Presently, women comprise 57% of all Israelis over 65 years of age, and 70%
of all patients hospitalized in geriatric hospitals are women. Thus, geriatric
services may be treated as an area of specific concern for women. Currently,
hospitalization expenses for senior citizens are covered by the basic basket,
but extended hospitalizations of senior citizens are not covered by the basic
basket and must be covered by the patients and their families. The National
Insurance Law provides a monthly allowance for the elderly (defined as men who
are over 65 and women who are over 60) who are in need of a personal
caretaker. By September 1996, 67,000 senior citizens, 70% of whom were women,
had received this monthly allowance. In 1996 alone, the government paid a
total of over 1 billion NIS in such allowances.
4. Family Planning Among Israeli Women
4.1. Legal Abortions
The Penal Code - 1977, sections 312-321, permits abortions upon the permission
of a designated committee in the following cases:
1. The women is under the legal age for marriage or above 40.
2. The pregnancy is a result of sexual relations forbidden according to the
Israeli criminal code, or is a result of incestuous or extra-marital
relations.
3. The unborn child will suffer from a physical or mental deformity.
4. The continuation of pregnancy will endanger the life of the mother, or
may cause her physical or mental damage.
There are no criminal sanctions against women who undergo illegal abortions.
The code penalizes doctors who perform the illegal procedures.
The Committee for Approval of Termination of Pregnancies is composed of two
doctors and a social worker. One of the Committee members must be a woman. No
approval for the abortion is needed other than that of the committee, even if
the woman seeking the abortion is a minor. Upon applying to the committee,
the woman seeking an abortion must meet with a social worker, who is
instructed by law to explain the physical and mental dangers of abortion, and
is also instructed by the Ministry of Health to attempt to convince her to
choose an alternative solution to the unwanted pregnancy. The woman seeking
the abortion must also meet with a doctor instructed to explain the medical
risks involved. The reports of both the doctor and the social worker must be
reviewed by the committee before it makes its decision.
The statutory committee may not examine applications for abortions of
pregnancies that have developed beyond the 23rd week, rather, such requests
must be reviewed by a special committee. The special committee is composed of
the director of the medical center (to which the application has been sent),
the director of the Maternity ward, the director of the Naonatology ward, the
director of a genetics center, and a chief social worker. So far, 6 such
special committees have been formed.
Abortions performed for medical reasons or where the woman is a minor are
covered by the medical insurance as part of the basic basket of health
services.
4.2. Abortion rates
Since 1980, the number of legal abortions performed in Israel has fluctuated
between an estimated 14,000 to 19,000 a year.
Chart 1 -Application, Approvals, and Actual Terminations
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
Based on regression analysis, researchers have concluded that the level of
education has no influence on the tendency to seek an abortion. The number of
children before the pregnancy in question has proved to be an influential
factor in the decision to apply for an abortion: the probability of
application for abortion rose with the number of children a women had prior to
the pregnancy in question. A recent study revealed that only 8.4% of married
women in Israel sought abortions for health reasons, while the overwhelming
majority sought abortions as a form of family planning.
Table 1 - Applications to Commissions for Termination of Pregnancy (1995)
Marital Status and Religion Total To Age 19
Absolute Numbers
Total 16,903 2,318
Married Women 8,760 105
Unmarried Women 6,053 2,193
Religion:
Jewish 14,593 2,136
Moslem 744 51
Christian 428 13
Rates per 1,000 Women
Total 14 9.7
Married Women 13 9
Unmarried Women 13.2 9.8
Religion:
Jewish 15.8 12.1
Moslem 4.4 1.2
Christian 11.1 2.1
Soruce: CBS, SAI 1996
Table 2 - Terminations of Pregnancy in Hospitals, by Cause
Source: CBS, SAI 1996
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
Chart 2 -Terminations by Section of the Law (percents)
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
4.3. Illegal Abortions
It is difficult to account precisely for the number of illegal abortions in
Israel, yet the current estimation of the Israel Family Planning Association
stands at 4000-6000 abortions per year. Researchers have noted that the
numbers have risen significantly following the recent wave of immigration from
the former Soviet Union. Many immigrant women are relatively uninformed about
birth control and they are accustomed to receiving abortion on demand.
4.4. Pronatalism and Family Planning in Israel
Over the last 20 years Israel has witnessed a gradual expansion of family
planning services in both the public and private health care sectors. However,
despite fairly universal health care coverage and the broad range of medical
assistance provided in the basic basket of services, contraceptives continue
to fall outside of the basic basket of services offered to women. Israeli
sick funds offer contraceptive devices at a fee which varies from 170 NIS for
an IUD fitting at clinics operated by the General Sick Fund (which insures
approximately 75% of the population) to 400 NIS in the other major funds.
Although oral contraceptive pills are offered at a subsidized price
(approximately 75% of the actual cost), this fact is not widely publicized and
most clinics prefer to dispense the IUD to women after childbirth. Diaphragms
are neither encouraged nor subsidized. Other non-prescriptive methods, such as
foam, rhythm, and withdrawal are perceived as outside of medical jurisdiction,
and are therefore rarely discussed by doctors as alternatives.
The Israel Family Planning Association has been actively engaged in performing
services not provided by the sick funds or governmental institutions. Since
1981, the association has operated walk-in counseling centers for adolescents
facing social, psychological, and gynecological problems. Trained counselors
give professional advice concerning contraceptive use, sexual relationships,
and pregnancy. Gynecologists give periodic on-site examinations. Currently the
association has offices in several pre-dominantly Jewish cities, however, the
association plans to open centers in Arab cities like Jaffa and Nazareth, to
be staffed by Arab personnel trained by the organization.
4.5. Hysterectomies
Sterilization in Israel is performed on a voluntary basis, and the rate of
hysterectomies is relatively low. While in the US in the late 1980s some 271
operations of this kind were performed per 1,000,000 women in the populations,
in Israel, the rate was only 73 per 1,000,000.
5. Fertility Rates, Treatments, and Services
5.1. Birth Rates and Fertility Rates
The absolute number of live births per year has increased from 80,843 in
1970 to 117,182 in 1995.
Chart 3 -- Live Births, by Religion (absolute numbers)
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
Table 3 - Live births, by Mother's Age
Mother's Age Total Jews Moslems Christians Druze &
Others
Total - Absolute 112,330 79,224 27,705 2,710 2,676
Numbers
Total 100 100 100 100 100
Up to 19 4 2.4 8.6 3.2 5.5
20-24 24.7 21.4 32.5 30.4 33.9
25-29 32 32.9 29.4 34.8 30.8
30-34 23.6 25.8 18.5 21.5 19.4
35-39 12.3 14 8.3 8 8.7
40+ 3 3.4 2.1 1.5 1.8
Source: Health in Israel, 1996
Chart 4 -Fertility Rate by Population Group: Live Births per 1,000 Women
Source: Health In Israel, 1996
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
The largest drop in fertility occurred among Druze, while the smallest drop in
fertility occurred among Jewish women. However, the average fertility rate
among Moslem women still remains much higher than the average fertility rate
of Jewish women: while Jewish women were found to have an average of 2.5
children in 1995, Moslem women were found to have 4.7 children on average.
Within the Jewish population, the largest drop in fertility occurred among
women born in Europe and America (a 21.5% decrease, from 2.8 to 2.2 children
on average), and the smallest drop in fertility occurred among women born in
Israel (a 10% decrease, from 3.3 children on average to 2.5). From among the
different age groups, the largest drop in fertility over the last 15 years has
occurred among women in the 15-19 age group, while the biggest rise in
fertility rate occurred among women in the 40-44 age-group.
The absolute number of live births to unwed Israeli women has not increased
significantly in the last 20 years, measured as 1479 births in 1978, and 1490
live births in 1994. However, the number of live births per 1000 unwed Israeli
women under the age of 19 has almost halved since 1978, from 1.5 births to
0.8, while the overall number of live births among unwed Jewish women has
risen from 732 births in 1982 to 1251 births in 1992.
Table 4 - Live Births to Never Married Women
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
5.2. Fertility Treatments and Services
Fertility treatments in Israel are highly developed and well subsidized.
Currently, Israel boasts a world record of 20 in-vitro fertilization (IVF)
clinics, or approximately one such center for every 285,000 inhabitants.
Insurance subsidies cover, on average, 6500 NIS for one cycle of IVF
treatment, not including hospital expenses and other costs which are generally
covered by the basic basket of services. Currently there is no limit as to how
many treatments a woman may receive prior to conception, however, only 7
cycles of treatment, up to the birth of two live children, are covered as part
of the basic basket of health services. Although there is no clear definition
of infertility in the regulations defining the basic basket, couples are
generally eligible for treatment if one year of sexual relations without
contraception fails to result in pregnancy. In 1993, 7000 cycles of IVF
treatment were performed (some women received more than one cycle of
treatment). Moreover, unmarried women are now eligible for fertility
treatments with donor sperm in accordance with the same provisions applying to
married women.
6. Life Expectancy
Table 5 - Life Expectancy
Jews Arabs and Others
Year Men Women Men Women
1950-1954 67.2 70.1
1960-1964 70.6 73.1
1970-1974 70.6 73.8 68.5 71.9
1975-1979 71.7 75.3 69.2 72
1980-1984 73.1 76.5 70.8 74
1985-1989 74.1 77.8 72.7 75.5
1990-1994 75.5 79.2 73.5 76.3
Excludes war casualties
Source: CBS, SAI 1996
While life expectancy for Israeli men was ranked in 1989 as the 2nd highest
among 34 developed countries (after Greece), the life expectancy for Israeli
women was ranked 18th. According to the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the
difference in life expectancy between men and women is the smallest of 20
European reference countries. This pattern remains generally consistent for
all the main causes of death. The WHO Europe Regional Office noted Israeli
women's high mortality rates as a matter of particular concern in its 1996
Report on Health in Israel.
7. Mortality Rates and Causes of Death
7.1 Infant Mortality Rates
The infant mortality rate has almost halved since 1983 and currently stands at
6.8 deaths per every 1000 live births (5.5 deaths among Jewish newborns, and
9.9 deaths among non-Jewish newborns.)
Table 6 - Infant Deaths, by Population Group and Cause
Rates per 1,000 live births
Cause of Death 1970-1974 1980-1984 1985-1989 1990-1994
Jews
Total 18.6 11.8 8.8 6.8
Intestinal Infectious Diseases 0.6 0 0
All Other Infectious and
Parasitic Diseases 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.1
Pneumonia 1.2 0.3 0.2 0.1
Congenital Anomalies 4.4 2.8 2.3 1.7
Other Causes of Perinatal Mortality 9.9 5.8 4.4 3.6
External Causes 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.2
All Other and Unspecified Causes 1.8 2.4 1.6 1.2
Arabs and Others
Total 32.1 22.6 16.8 13.5
Intestinal Infectious Diseases 4.8 0.2 0.3 0.1
All Other Infectious and
Parasitic Diseases 1 0.9 0.5 0.3
Pneumonia 4.4 1.8 0.6 0.2
Congenital Anomalies 6.5 4.9 5.4 4.2
Other Causes of Perinatal Mortality 10 7.3 5.3 4.3
External Causes 0.7 0.6 0.8 0.5
All Other and Unspecified Causes 4.7 6.8 4 3.8
Source: CBS, SAI 1996
The mortality rate of Jewish female Israeli newborns has been consistently
lower than the mortality rate of Jewish male Israeli newborns and has
remained consistently lower than that of their male counterparts during the
first year for life, although the gap has been closing. However, while the
average mortality rate of non-Jewish female infants was lower than the
average mortality rate of non-Jewish male infants between the years 1980-1984,
the average mortality of non-Jewish female infants rose above that of their
male counterparts between the years 1989-1993, and has remained consistently
higher than the mortality rate of non-Jewish male infants between their first
month and first year of life.
7.2. Maternal Mortality Rates
The maternal rate of mortality has remained generally low since 1985 , and in
1992 stood at 5.45 deaths per every 100,000 live births. According to the WHO
Regional Office for Europe, the Israeli rate for 1990-1992 was the 9th lowest
among 20 European reference countries.
7.3. Standardized Mortality Rates
Table 7 - Mortality Rates of Jews Aged 45 and Over
Average 1992-1994
Age Males Females
Rates per 1,000 residents
Total 25 22.2
45-49 2.8 2.2
50-54 4.5 3.5
55-59 8 6
60-64 14.1 10.7
65-69 22.9 17.5
70-74 36.8 29.3
75-79 60.1 50.4
80-84 97.2 84.6
85+ 189.3 170.2
Source: CBS: SAI 1996
7.4 Causes of Death Table 8 - Deaths, by Cause, Religion, and Sex
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
Heart disease is the cause of death for 211.7 out of every 100,000 Israeli
women, and 23% of deaths among Israeli women aged 65 and up. While the
mortality rate of Israeli women from heart diseases was found to be
approximately 30% lower than that of Israeli men, it is placed 27th lowest
among the 34 Western countries to which Israel was compared by the
International Mortality Chartbook, whereas the mortality rate of Israeli men
from heart disease placed 17th lowest as compared to other countries.
7.5. Breast Cancer Among Israeli Women
While the incidence of many types of cancers in Israel has generally gone down
since the 1960s, Israel has witnessed a constant rise in the incidence of
breast cancer over the last 30 years. It appears that Jewish Israeli women,
like women in other developed countries, are at a particularly high risk of
developing the disease at some point during their lives. A study conducted in
1985 revealed that one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the world is
found among Jewish Israeli women, while one of the lowest rates in the world
was found among non-Jewish Israeli women.
Specifically, Arab-Israeli women constitute the group with the lowest rate of
breast cancer in Israel, and the rate of cancer in general among Arab-Israeli
women is lower than the rate of cancer among Arab-Israeli men. However,
breast cancer still constitutes 1/3 of all cases of cancer among Arab-Israeli
women (Avgar, 1996).
Breast cancer has become the leading cause of death for Israeli women in the
25-55 age group, and has taken the lives of more Israeli women than all heart
diseases combined. The rate of cancer among all Jewish Israeli women has risen
since the 1960s from 45 cases per 100,000 women to 81 cases per 100,00 women
in the early 1990s. The most dramatic rise in the number of new breast cancer
cases occurred among Jewish women born in Israel (from 36/100,000 in the 60s
to 92/100,000 in the 90s), as opposed to American, European, African or Asian
born Jewish women, or Non-Jewish Israeli women (Avgar, 96). Between the
1987-1989 to 1990-1992 periods, there was a 37% rise in the number of new
breast cancer cases. According to the figures compiled in 1995, in 1992 almost
2000 new cases of breast cancer were found among Israeli Jewish women,
accounting for a third of the malignant tumors found in Israeli Jewish women
during that year. Breast cancer is detected earliest amongst Israeli-born
Jewish women (47.7 on average) in comparison with other groups of Jewish
Israeli women. As with most malignant diseases, the rate of breast cancer
among Israeli women rises with their age, reaching its peak in the 65-70 age
groups, which experience outbreaks at a rate of 450/100,000 women (with the
exception of American and European born Israeli women, amongst whom breast
cancer peaks at later ages) and falling back to a rate of 300/100,000 women
in the 70+ age group.
7.6. Mammograms
The new Health Insurance Law expressly forbids the discrimination in services
on the basis of sex. This has induced the general manager and the director of
health services at the Health Ministry to announce in 1996 that by the end of
1997, the sick funds plan to cover all women in the 50-74 age group for a
mammography examination once every two years.
8. Hospitalization
The hospitalization of Jewish females under the age of 15 is lower then that
of their male counterparts. After the age of 15 the hospitalization rate
amongst Israeli women exceeds the rate of men, and continues to rise sharply
in every age group. By the age of 45, the hospitalization rate of males and
females is approximately equal, and beyond the age of 65 the hospitalization
rate of men rises above that of women. The above statistics include women
hospitalized in maternity wards.
Chart 5 -Hospitalized Persons, 1993: Rate per 100 Persons
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
Source: Health in Israel, 1996
In 1995, 44% of all psychiatric hospitalizations were of women and 56% were
of men. The rate of hospitalized men exceeded the rate of hospitalized women
until the ages of 45+.
Table 9 - Admissions to Psychiatric In-Patient Care
Total-Absolute Numbers
Total 16,532
Men 9,293
Women 7,239
Thereof: First Admissions
Total 4,111
Men 2,330
Women 1,781
Source: Health in Israel, 1996
9. Violence as a health factorViolence against women is thoroughly
discussed under Article 5 above. The National Health Law covers any and all
medical expenses incurred as a result of physical or sexual violence against
women.
The 1996 parliamentary committee whose work is discussed under Article 5
above, has recommended to the Health Ministry that medical teams be trained
to identify damage stemming from domestic violence and to ask questions
pertaining to family violence (including mental violence) as part of the
standard line of questioning during an examination. In addition, the committee
has recommended that questions pertaining to violence against women be
included in the Israeli Medical Board examinations for doctors, nurses, and
paramedics.
10. AIDS
The total number of AIDS patients in Israeli during 1995 was 358, 312 of whom
were male and 46 of whom were female. 278 of the 358 patients died that
year. The number of AIDS carriers in Israel in 1995 was 1386 of whom 367 were
women; most were exposed to the virus outside of Israel. Since the first
statistical documentation of AIDS in Israel in the early 1980's, the
proportion of Israelis infected each year by the HIV virus who are women has
significantly increased, especially since 1992.
The Israel Family Planning Association has been tackling the issue of AIDS in
Israel by printing and distributing educational pamphlets in Hebrew, Russian,
Arabic, and Amharic (the language spoken by Ethiopian newcomers to Israel). In
addition, the Association offers courses and seminars which emphasize AIDS
awareness and education.
Table 10 - AIDS in Israel
Women Men
Exposure Category AIDS HIV+ AIDS HIV+
Patients Carriers Patients Carriers
Total 46 367 312 915
Homosexual/Bisexual Males 132 193
Intravenous Drug Users 9 19 54 108
Persons with Hemophilia 1 33 44
Other Blood/Component Recipients 2 7 11 9
Heterosexual Contacts
Partners of One of the Above 4
Categories 7 17 4
Persons Presumed: Exposure Abroad 17 198 42 267
Child of At-Risk/Infected Parent 6 23 5 42
Now Known 5 102 35 248
11. Women in Health care
11.1. Women in Medical School
The number of women accepted to medical schools in Israel has risen
significantly over the last 26 years, from 24% in 1969, to 48% in 1995.
Israeli women were found to score comparably to Israeli men in the National
Medical Board examinations.
11.2 Women as Medical Personnel
By the end of 1993, two thirds of all doctors and dentists were men. Among
the specialists, 74% were men. The highest rate of women specialists was in
pediatrics (40%) and psychiatry (40%), followed by family-medicine (35%). The
lowest rate of women specialists was in general-surgery (5%), followed by
obstetrics and gynecology (15%). While 43% of all men-doctors were
specialists, only 29% of all women doctors were specialists.
The mass emigration to Israel from the former USSR has significantly changed
the proportion of practicing doctors who are women in Israel, from 30% to
36% by 1995 (and 35% of all practicing dentists). Twenty percent of all
doctors in 1993 were new immigrants who arrived to Israel in 1990-1993.
Chart 6 --Medical Personnel
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
Currently, 56% of all new immigrants who are doctors are women. Figures from
1992-3 indicate that 49% of medical licenses were given to women, 90% of the
whom did not study medicine in Israel.
Israeli women doctors tend to work in clinics as opposed to hospitals and are
less likely than men to specialize in surgery related fields. While the
proportions of Israeli women and US women who specialize in psychiatry and
family medicine are similar, the proportion of women in the US who
specialize in internal medicine, children's medicine, surgery, and
particularly gynecology, is significantly higher than the proportion of their
Israeli counterparts. Although gynecology is a specialty predominantly
occupied by women in Eastern Europe, the current wave of immigrants from the
former USSR did not significantly alter the number of women gynecologists in
Israel.
12. Arab Women and Health Services
Prior to the enactment of the new health insurance law, health clinics in
almost all Jewish cities and villages, while nearly a third of the Arab
villages lacked clinics. For example, in the Arab city of Um El Phachem,
which housed 27,000 residents, the General Sick Fund provided only one
gynecologist for its 18,000 members. In the new law the government adopted
the policy of indirectly encouraging the Sick Funds to accept members who live
in Israel's peripheries, such as Um El Phachem, by allotting funds in
proportion to the number of members in each sick fund, an by specifying that
more funds will be allotted for those living in the peripheral areas. Maccabi,
the sick fund considered to provide the most qualitative health care services,
began establishing branches in Arab villages while the new law was still being
discussed in the Knesset. Thus, the new law has in fact brought an immediate
improvement in the quantity and proximity of health care services to Israeli
Arabs.
A recent study conducted to gauge the level of satisfaction with the changes
in the health care system brought on by the new law (Berg, 1996) found that
the level of satisfaction from the new law was highest in the Arab community:
31% of the Arab residents included in the study felt that health care services
had improved as a result of the new law, as opposed to a mere 17% of the
veteran Israeli society.
Since 1994, the Ministry of Health has joined the active effort to close the
gaps in health care between Israel's minority groups and the majority by
allotting a proportion of its yearly budget for this express purpose since. In
1995, 5.1 million NIS (roughly 1.5 million dollars) were allotted, which
amounted to 2% of the Health Ministry's budget, and by 1996, 9.7 million NIS
were allotted this purpose. Most of the funds have been used to employ more
care-givers and purchase equipment for the clinics serving minority
populations.
12.1 Health Care Services offered to Arab Women
As mentioned above, the Minister of Health, through its local public health
departments, operates an extensive network of 435 Mother-Child clinics
throughout the country that offer high-quality and relatively inexpensive pre-
and post-natal care to women on a neighborhood basis. While Mother-Child
stations had been set up in all Jewish cities, in 1991 20 Arab villages still
lacked Mother-Child clinics. In response, during 1993-1994, the Health
Ministry approved the construction of 20 new Mother-Child clinics in Arab
towns and villages. In 1995, the Health Ministry approved the construction of
an additional 30 mother-Child clinics in Arab towns and villages, and 1996 the
Health Ministry approved the construction of an additional 27 new
Mother-Child Clinics for Arab towns and villages and spent 6.5 million NIS
(roughly 2 million Dollars,) on their construction. A study conducted in 1992
among 320 Arab mothers in seven hospitals in Northern Israel found that
Christian Arab women, who tend to be more educated than their Druze and Moslem
counterparts, preferred private doctors to the Mother-Child care centers and
visited the centers less frequently.
Geriatric services for Arab women were virtually non-existent until 1993. No
Arab town had institutions with beds for geriatric purposes and geriatric care
was provided for the Arab elderly mainly by family members even after the
enactment of the Nursing Care Insurance law - 1988. However, caretakers who
are not members of the patient's immediate family and do not live in the same
household have begun to take collect the allowance provided by the Nursing
Care Insurance law as compensation for their services. Presently 12% of all
Arab senior citizens receive both a senior citizen's allowance and nursing
care allowance, while only 6% of all Jewish senior citizens receive both
allowances. In addition, the first old-age home specifically geared for the
Arab community opened in 1993 in the Arab town of Deboriah.
12.2. Life Expectancy and Causes of Death Among Arab Women
Arab women have a life expectancy of 77.1 years as compared to Jewish women
whose life expectancy is 79.5 years. The leading cause of death (47%) among
both Arab and Jewish women is heart disease. Cancer is the second leading
cause of death among Jewish women, and only the third leading cause of death
among Arab women. However, the death rate from cancer among Arab women has
been rising, and the difference between the two groups has been decreasing.
Strokes have been found to be the third largest cause of death among Israeli
women in general, leading to the death of 165 out of every 100,000 Arab women,
as compared to 119 out of every 100,000 Jewish women. High blood pressure,
which is generally more common among men than women, is particularly common
and dangerous to the health of Arab women.
12.3. Infant Mortality Rates among Arab Newborns
Despite the general improvement in health services since the establishment
of State of Israel, a significant gap remains between the infant mortality
rates in the Arab sector as opposed to the Jewish sector.
Jews Arabs
Table 11 - Health Determinants
Stillborns per 1,000 live Births (1991) 3.7 6.5 (Moslems)
Infant Mortality (1994) 5.9 11.5
Life Expectancy (1993) Women - 79.5 Women - 77.1
Men - 75.7 Men - 73.6
Source: CBS, SAI 1996
Statistical analysis completed in 1992 found that in the cities included in
the study, the 9 cities with the highest infant mortality rates (spanning from
16.8% -24.6%) were cities in which the majority of the population were Arabs.
Chart 7 - Jewish and Arab Stillborns and Infant Mortality Rates & Life
Expectancy
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
Chart 8 - Causes for Infant Mortality, Jewish and Arab Population
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
12.4. Fertility and Family Planning
The birth rate among Israel's Arab Moslems dropped from an average of 9.22
children per family in the 1960s to 8.5 in 1975, and continued to drop
dramatically until 1986, when it stabilized at 4.6. Recently there has been a
small rise in fertility rates among Moslems (the rate rose to 4.7 in 1995) ,
but a decline continued among Christian and Druze women. A study conducted in
1996, reveals a negative correlation between the fertility rate and years of
education among Arab women, and a positive correlation between the number of
years between each birth and the level of education. In addition, the study
reveales that the fertility rate among village women is higher than that of
city women. Arab women of Jerusalem were found to be exceptional in terms of
this correlation, and their fertility rates were significantly higher than the
fertility rates in other Arab cities.
ARTICLE 13 Social and Economic Benefits
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in other aresas of economic and social life in order to ensure,
on a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in particular:
a) The right to family benefits;
b) The right to bank loans, mortgages, and other forms of financial credit;
c) The right to participate in recreational activities, sports, and in all
aspects of cultural life.
The discussion under this Article will touch upon several areas relevant to
the participation of women in economic, social and cultural life in Israel.
As such, it will be divided into a number of parts: aspects of women in the
economy; social benefits and the welfare state in Israel in relation to
women's social and economic situation; and several aspects of every-day life
of women in Israel (time-use and recreation).
1. Women in the Economy
1.1 Women as Members on Boards of Israeli Companies
Women's participation in national economic life is a significant feature of
full citizenship, which reflects society's willingness to accept women as
leaders and decision-makers. In research conducted in 1994, the following data
was collected concerning the number of women on the boards of directors in
public companies traded on the stock exchange. In 61% of the public companies,
there were no women appointed to the board of directors, and in 27% there was
only one woman. In addition, research showed that more women serve on the
boards of private or family-owned companies than on a public companies traded
on the stock exchange.
According to the aforementioned research, men have a higher tendency to serve
as directors of multiple companies, whereas women have a higher tendency to
hold multiple jobs in the same company, in addition to serving as members of
the board.
Recent data submitted to the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women by the
Women Managers in Industry Forum show that the situation did not improve
significantly from 1994 to 1996: in both years women constituted less than 9%
of the directors in public companies traded on the stock exchange, and in 702
such companies researched, only 322 had women on their boards.
1.2. Attitude of Women Directors
The research revealed additional differences between the attitude of women
and men directors: women emphasize the shareholders' interest, the ability to
influence the management and social prestige associated with the job. Men,
however, attach strong importance to public interest, the ability to make
connections, and their own management experience. These differences reflect
important aspects of how directors get appointed: men are usually appointed
through friends, network connections, or business associates, while women are
appointed mostly due to family connections and public activity.
1.3. Women in Small Businesses
Another significant aspect of economic participation is expressed through
entrepreneurship, particularly in small businesses. The influence of small
businesses in generating employment opportunities has risen greatly in the
recent years. Therefore, the participation of women in small businesses
should be undestood as a major channel through which women enter the Israeli
economy.
In a recent national survey conducted under the auspices of the Small Business
Authority in Israel, it was found that:
1) 8% of all women aged 22-55 were operating their own business.
2) The life-span of small businesses of women is relatively short: (45%
operate 1-4 years, 51% operate 5-7 years.)
3) The major obstacle that women must overcome to be entrepeneurs is lack of
experience in financial and marketing strategies.
4) Since women generally own less property than men, it is more difficult for
them to provide sureties in order to receive necessary loans.
In 1996, the Committee for Promoting Women Entrepreneurship published a report
which calls for increasing the number of women in bank managerial positions in
order to influence the banks' attitude in favour of women's requests for loans
and credit ratings. There is a National Fund for Promoting Small Business from
which women can get loans with State guarantees.
The Small Business Authority of Israel (hereinafter: "SBAI") is a government
agency designed to help, promote and assist small businesses in Israel. The
SBAI established a committee aimed at helping women set up small businesses
and aiding women entrepreneurs. The SBAI provides courses in business
management to women all over Israel. In addition, the SBAI has set up Women
Managers Clubs in cooperation with Na'amat (see Article 7).
Research done by the SBAI committee on the likelihood of women to open a small
business revealed that 1) the average age of women entrepeneurs was 52, 2)
their average education consisted of 13.5 years, 3) 70% of women entrepeneurs
were married and 85% were mothers. The reasons and methods used for setting up
a small business are summarized in the following table:
Table 1 - Women's Reasons for Establishing a Small Business
Reasons %
Alternative to Working as an Employee 24
Desire for Financial Success 26
Reaching a Goal 15.5
Independence 15
Need for Change 13.4
Source: SBAI Committee
The following table depicts the various means through which women entrepeneurs
obtained the money needed to start their business:
Table 2 - Sources of Funding for Intiation of Businesses
Source % of Women
Almost Didn't Need 30
Private Sources Only 41.1
Family 5.3
Bank Loans 15.5
Non-Private Sources 8.2
Source: SBAI Committee
According to this data, in order to get capital most women preferred to borrow
from relatives and friends rather than from banks. A small percentage of women
reported difficulties in acquiring bank loans due to eligibility problems.
2. Social Benefits and the Welfare State in Israel
2.1 The National Insurance Institute
The welfare state in Israel emerged gradually during the 49 years since the
state's establishment. Israel succeeded in building a comprehensive system of
social protection which encompasses social insurance and social assistance
programs. The cornerstone of social insurance was laid soon after the
establishment of the state, through the passage of the National Insurance Law-
1953. The social insurance system is extended to include all major
contingencies of income loss in modern industrial societies: old age,
dependents, disability, child rearing, maternity, unemployment, and work
injury.
The body responsible for administration of the social insurance programs is
the National Insurance Institute (hereinafter: "NII") which operates under the
supervision of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The NII provides
welfare services to residents in need. The NII is also responsible for the
payment of benefits under the social assistance program, as directed in the
Income Support Law- 1980. Employment-related social benefits are described
under Article 11. The following sections will describe other relevant social
benefits, and will include data on recipients of such benefits.
2.2. Social Benefits
2.2.1. Maternity Grant
Women are insured under maternity insurance, which provides a hospitalization
grant, a maternity grant (both of which are only for the mother and not for
the father) and a maternity leave allowance. Any woman who gives birth at a
hospital is eligible for a maternity grant, set as 20% of the average wage,
upon the birth of one child, and 100% upon the birth of twins. The conditions
for eligibility for maternity leave allowance are detailed under Article 11.
During 1996, 56,000 women received maternity leave allowances, constituting
49.1% of all births that year. This means that less than half of the women
who gave birth in 1996 were eligible for the allowance, in terms of working
the required amount of months prior to the birth, as explained under Article
11 above.
2.2.2. Old Age Pension and Survivor's Benefit
96% of all women over age 65 in Israel receive an old age pension or a
widow's pension for dependents. Of those receiving an old age pension, 61%
receive the pension after having accrued insurance coverage, while 21% receive
pensions in the form of a supplement to the spouse's pension. An additional
18% of elderly women, primarily new immigrants who were unable to accrue
pension rigthts in Israel, receive pensions under special arrangements funded
by the Treasury (general revenues.)
2.2.3. Longterm Care Insurance
All women, including housewives, are insured under long-term care insurance
(see Article 12 above), and the conditions of entitlement are identical to
that of men with one distinction: the age of entitlement for women is 60 and
for men 65. Moreover, the conditions for entitlement to the benefit require
at least 50% medical disability for housewives compared to 40% medical
disability for other insured persons.
2.2.4. Unemployment Benefits
A person who is registered at the Employment Service, who is ready and able to
work, and to whom the Service has not offered such work, is entitled to
unemployment benefits. The daily unemployment benefit is calculated at rates
determined in the law, on the basis of the daily average wage of the
unemployed person during the last 75 work days of the qualifying period. In
1996, 45.4% of all women aged 15 or older were part of the work force. The
number of women receiving unemployment benefits was only 3.9% of the women's
work force. The comparable figure for men was 2.8%. Women's unemployment
rate in 1995 was 8%, and men's unemployment rate was 5.1%.
2.2.5. Children's Allowances
The NII provides children's allowances to an insured parent under the law,
paid to one of the parents for each child (under the age of 18) and to an
insured person who supported a child who is not his or her child for at least
12 months.
2.2.6. Alimony Payments
The Alimony (Guarantee of Payment) Law -1972 states that any person,
regardless of gender, who has received a court decision in his or her favor
for alimony and who is an Israeli resident, may receive this grant from the
NII according to the court decision. Currently, the sums are 25% of the
average wage for the alimony of a woman alone; 39.7% of the average wage for a
woman with one child; 49.6% for a woman with two children. This law is a
revolutionary law, enabling entitled people who cannot succeed in implementing
the court decisions on their own, to receive the sums laid down by the courts.
In 1996, 18,283 women received alimony payments. The overwhelming majority
(99.3%) were women with children. About one third had one child, one third had
two children, close to 20% had three children and about 10% had four children
or more. The amount paid increases according to the number of children.
Significantly, only 5% of the women received the sum determined in the
regulations, since the sum that is decided in the courts is usually lower,
and the beneficiary is entitled to the lower sum of the two. Thus, the
average sum of alimony payment in 1996 was only 19.9% of the average wage.
Other information indicative of the economic situation of women receiving
alimony payments through the NII is that of all women who received
unemployment payment in 1996 (36,750 women), 52.5% had also received alimony
payment.
2.3. Poverty of Women
According to the definition of poverty adopted by the NII, a family is
considered poor when its standard of living falls considerably below the
defined poverty line. The poverty line in Israel is defined as 50% of the
median disposable income (i.e. after the various social-security transfer
payments and income tax), adjusted to family size.
According to the statistics offered by the NII, there are almost no
gender-related differences regarding the incidence of poverty among the
population, and poverty is documented in equal proportions among both men and
women. In 1995, out of 1,447,900 adult women, there were 224,600 earning an
income below the poverty line. Out of 1,324,300 adult men, there were 189,300
living below the poverty line. According to these statistics, women
constituted 54.3% of the persons having an income below the poverty line,
while men constitute 45.7% of the persons having an income below the poverty
line. Since women constitute 52.2% of the adult population these figures show
that the proportion of women in poverty is only slightly larger than their
proportion in general in the population (54.3% vs. 52.2%).
Nevertheless, there are specific population groups which are especially
vulnerable to poverty, particularly those families that are headed by women.
The statistics concerning poverty in families headed by women are as follows:
21.9% of all families headed by women live below the poverty line, 25% of all
families headed by elderly women live below the poverty line, and the
incidence of poverty in single-parent families headed by women are estimated
to be higher, but unfortunately the NII data regarding this group is not
sufficient to enable a precise assessment. Regarding two-parent families, the
poverty rates are smaller: 13% among families with no children; 7% among
families with one child; 11% among families with two children; 15% among
families with three children; and the striking figure of 40% among families
with four children or more (related to the socio-demographic characteristics
of such families). The impression of a higher poverty rate among women-headed
families is strengthened by the data concerning income support benefit,
discussed below.
Much of this information regarding the economic status of women-headed
households is the direct result of the earning gaps that exist between women
and men, as discussed extensively under Article 11 above. This contention is
supported by the breakdown of the incidence of poverty among working men and
women, when the analysis is done according to the disposable family income,
adjusted by the number of family members. The NII data reveals that 14% of
working Jewish women are below the poverty line, while the poverty rate for
working Jewish men is only 7%. Interestingly, the opposite is true among
working non-Jewish men and women. The poverty rate among non-Jewish working
women is 20%, and among non-Jewish working men is 23%.
2.3.1. Single Parent Families
In 1995, around 10% of all Israeli households constituted single-parent
families (data varies between the Central Bureau of Statistics and the
National Insurance Institute). Over 80% of these households are headed by
women. According to the NII, poverty among single-parent families is more
frequent than among two-parent families. Researchers further contend that
almost one third of families with children that are headed by women are poor,
compared with 15% of families with children that are headed by men.
Unfortunately, neither of these estimations can be presently verified, since
the sample used by the NII income-survey is too small to enable statistical
analysis regarding single-parent families. One indication of the limitations
of these estimates is the disproportionately high rate of single-parent women
who received income support benefits in 1995; in this year 41% of all women
receiving income support benefits were single-mothers. Overall, the high
percentage of single-parent families headed by women living in poverty has
been recognized as a serious problem, which is being dealt with in several
different ways.
The Single-Parent Family Law 1992 entitles single-parent families to income
support, and has strengthened the social protection for single-parent families
with low income, by increasing the level of their means-tested benefit as well
as by awarding them child-education grants and priority in vocational
training. The Single-Parent Family Law brought about an equalization of rights
among the various types of single-parent families, whether headed by men or by
women, under the principle of "equal treatment for families with equal needs."
The Law was amended in 1994 and the definition of "single-parent" was
broadened to include women or men who are separated from their spouses for at
least two years and who have started divorce proceedings, immigrants whose
spouses did not immigrate with them, and agunot (women whose husbands refuse
to grant them a bill of divorce). According to the Single-Parent Family Law,
every single parent is entitled to children's benefits, while those that do
not have any income aside from alimony payments are entitled to income
support. In 1995 the benefit to deserted wives and mothers whose spouses were
in jail was increased by 50% in order to combat the high rate of poverty among
these families.
In addition, single-parent families are entitled to benefits in income tax,
special credit points which reduce the amount of taxes they have to pay, and
financial help in paying rent. Moreover, the NII provides a single parent
family with a children between the ages of 6-14 with a yearly study grant.
2.3.2. Poverty among the Elderly
Women's organizations have pointed out that, as part of the more vulnerable
population, elderly women constitute a higher percentage of persons living
below the poverty line. One of the means for dealing with this problem is the
Law for the Reduction of Poverty and Income Disparities 1994. Under this law,
the benefits paid to the elderly and single-parent families have risen
significantly. This law is likely to help more women than men since women
generally live longer than men.
According to statistics submitted by the NII, however, the situation today is
that poverty among the elderly is found in almost equal proportion among men
and women. The percentage of elderly women living below the poverty line is
19.2%, and among elderly men is 18.9%.
2.4. Combating Poverty
2.4.1. Income Support
Transfer payments play a crucial role in reducing poverty and income
disparities. According to the Income Support Law - 1980, Israeli residents
over 18 years old, subject to a means test that takes into account the
economic situation of the family unit as a whole, are entitled to an income
support benefit under certain conditions, including, for example:
unemployment; employment at low wages; single-parenthood with a child up to
the age of 7; and more. The benefit rates, presented as percentages of the
average wage, vary according to the conditions of eligibility. Single parents
with children get the highest rate of income support: with one child - 43%,
with two or more children - 53%.
Income support is given on the basis of a family unit. In 1995, among all
recipients of income support benefits 65% were women, of whom 34% were married
with or without children, 25% were unmarried, and 41% were single-parents.
ARTICLE 14 Rural Women
1. States Parties shall take into account the particular problems faced by
rural women and the significant roles which they play in the economic survival
of their families, including their work in the non-monetized sectors of the
economy and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the application of
the provisions of this Convention to women in rural areas.
2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on the basis
of equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural
development and, in particular, shall ensure to such women the right:
a) To participate in the elaboration and implementation of development
planning at all levels;
b) To have access to adequate health care facilities, including information,
counselling and services in family planning;
c) To benefit directly from social security programmes;
d) To obtain all types of training and education, formal and non formal,
including that relating to functional literacy, as well as inter alia, the
benefit of all community and extension services, in order to increase their
technical proficiency;
e) To organise self-help groups and co-operatives in order to obtain equal
access to economic opportunities through employment or self-employment;
f) To participate in all community activities;
g) To have access to agricultural credit and loans, marketing facilities,
appropriate technology and equal treatment in land and agrarian reform as well
as in land resettlement schemes;
g) To enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing,
sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communications.
The issue of rural women is not particularly relevant to the State of Israel,
since only 10.4% of the Israeli population lives in rural localities. Two
main groups which this Article will concentrate upon are Bedouin women and
women in kibbutz.
1. Bedouin Women
1.1. Introduction
This chapter focuses on the 100,000 Bedouins who live in the southern Israeli
desert regions. Half of the Bedouins who reside in southern Israel live in one
of 7 Bedouin towns that were officially founded and recognized by the State
(Tel-Sheva, Rahat, Chora, Lakye, Sgav- Shalem, Aroer, and Csype,) while the
remaining half are scattered across the desert and live in semi-nomadic
clans.
The Bedouin community has undergone many changes since its first exposure to
Israeli society. The process has had various social, political, and economic
effects on the Bedouin community, and has weakened many age-old customs of
Bedouin society: particularly those of Bedouin women.
1.2. Family
Bedouin society is patriarchal and traditional. Bedouin women traditionally
hold all domestic responsibilities, including upkeep of the family tent, and
education of children. In addition, women were held responsible for caring
for members of the tribe who were in need of communal assistance, like the
elderly or the infirm.
1.3. Israel's Influence on the Bedouin Social Structure
1.3.1. The Rise in Polygamous Marriages
Historically, Bedouins practiced polygamy, and in recent decades the
popularity of polygamy has risen. Exposure to Israeli society has either lead
Bedouin men away from their villages, or brought them back to their villages
with new expectations as to their future lifestyles there, which include the
expectation to marry partners who share their more western outlook and possess
a similar educational background. Bedouin women, who are usually not allowed
to leave their village for educational or employment purposes, have not been
able to meet the expectations of their westernized male counterparts.
Consequently, many remain unmarried at relatively advanced ages (late 20s
early 30.) . Unmarried Bedouin women remain dependent on their families and
are perceived as economic burdens by their fathers, who are traditionally in
charge of family finances. In order to remedy the situation, many of these
older unmarried Bedouin women are married off as second or third wives.
In the Bedouin town Rahat (the largest of the officially recognized Bedouin
towns in the south) the average age of legal wives in monogamous marriages
is 18.3, and the average age of the first wives in polygamous marriages is
20.5, while the average age of the other wives in a polygamous marriage is
24.24 (Alatona, 93.) In addition, the research indicates that the number of
forced marriages was significantly higher among additional wives in polygamous
marriages than among the first wives in polygamous marriages or wives in
monogamous marriages. Polygamous marriages occur among educated Bedouins men
and women as well. Often, an educated woman will be married off as a second or
third wife, yet her level of education seems to be a positive variable in her
status in the polygamous marriage. In Rahat, while wives in monogamous
marriages received an average of 4.4 years of education and additional wives
in polygamous marriages received an average of 3.5 years of education, the
first wives in polygamous marriages were found to have received only .7 years
of education on average. The status of the first wife in a polygamous marriage
varies: some of the first wives are all but abandoned by their husbands in
favor of the new wives although they are not officially divorced, while others
become more prominent in their position as compared to the other wives.
Education was found to increase self-esteem among women in monogamous
marriages, though educated women in polygamous marriages were found to more
frustrated by their marriage arrangements because they were more aware of
their educational and professional potential.
Israeli law forbids polygamy, though Bedouin men manage to circumvent the law
by marrying one wife legally and the rest traditionally, later claiming to the
Civil courts that the other wives are strictly maintained as "concubines."
However, the Shaaria (Moslem) courts recognize the concubines as legal wives
and grant them divorces as well (Alatona, 93).
1.3.2. Modernization as a Bane to the Status of Bedouin women
As a result of the government-sponsored transition of the Bedouin community
from a semi-nomadic lifestyle to permanent residences, many of the traditional
activities of the Bedouin women have been replaced by modern technology and by
the Israeli educational system. The abandonment of traditional life has left a
vacuum in the lives of Bedouin women that has yet to be filled by new forms
of activity; these women are unequipped and unable at this stage in their
lives to enter to go into the labor market or pursue a formal education. Thus,
they have been left unemployed, although they are not formally recognized as
such by the Israeli government. The Bedouin men see the change in their wives
role in the nuclear family as a transition from a productive to a consumptive
role which leads to a gradual loss of respect for their wives and the roles
which they play in the family unit.
1.4. Employment
Bedouin men still object to sending their wives and daughters to work outside
of their town and villages. At present, Bedouin women are more interested in
vocational training which will provide them with skills that can be utilized
within their homes or villages. Since Bedouin social code dictates that women
must be accompanied at all times and places outside the home, Bedouin men only
allow their wives to work outside of the home provided that they are
supervised at all times.
Bedouins in the Galilee have overcome these societal constraints through the
supervision of Raisim, i.e. labor contractors or work supervisors, who assume
the responsibility of protecting Bedouin women when they are working outside
the home. The Raisim usually organize groups of women to work in factories,
agriculture, and as household help, and these women are often paid through the
Raisim. While in the past Bedouins were decidedly opposed to women working at
night, the Raisim system has created the opportunity for village women to work
night-shifts in factories and in hotels. The competition amongst Raisim to
manage as many workers as possible ensures that women will not be taken
advantage of. Presently, the phenomena of Bedouin women working through the
Raisim arrangement is only significant in the Northern Bedouin villages
located in the Galilee.
1.5. Education
Bedouin children enjoy a public school education comparable to the public
school education provided all over Israel. However, only 30% of Bedouin
students complete the 12th grade, and barely 3% of the students successfully
complete graduation requirements.
Currently, Bedouin girls constitute at least 50% of the student body of the
recognized Bedouin schools. Many parents expect their daughters to return to
their traditional roles in the Bedouin households upon graduation from 12th
grade, which often results in irreconcilable differences between the
traditional parents and their educated daughters who refuse to return to
domestic work which does not allow them to use their education. Furthermore,
many girls who are allowed to work must hand their wages over to their
parents and often resent their inability to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
These irreconcilable differences lead a significant number of Bedouin girls to
run away from their homes to shelters and half-way houses.
Recently higher education has begun to gain acceptance among some Bedouin
parents who realize that in order for their daughters to lead comfortable
lifestyles and find suitable husbands (given the rise in demand for educated
wives among young Bedouin men) they must have advanced education.
Nevertheless, most parents still associate the university setting with
decadence, and fear that sending their daughters to university will result in
the desecration of their family's honor.
1.6. Ritual Female Genital Operations (Female Circumcision)
Ritual female genital surgery (RFGS) has been found to be a normative practice
in several Bedouin tribes in southern Israel. Those Bedouin women among whom
the custom is prevalent do not refer to female circumcision in anatomic
terms, but rather refer to it as "purification." In 1992, Bedouin women from
six different tribes were interviewed regarding their circumcisions. The women
interviewed were between the ages of 16 and 45. They reported that not only
they, but all their sisters and the women in their close and extended family
underwent RFGS. The older women who had daughters reported that their
daughters had already undergone RFGS or will undergo RFGS when they reach the
suitable age. The ages between 12 and 17 are considered suitable for RFGS,
since they are after menarche but before the girls reach a marriageable age.
Most of the women stated that they will continue practicing RFGS on their
daughters, however, two young women aged 16 and 18, who were among the younger
and better educated women in the group, said they will not perform RFGS on
their daughters.
A physical examination of women from the same tribes revealed that the RFGS
performed on them did not involve clitoridectomy. However, all of the women
recorded bleeding and pain at the time of the RFGS. Three of the women
reported that they had required medical attention. All of the women reported
pain on intercourse in the months after marriage. None of them felt this to be
related to RFGS and many approved of the practice and intended to continue the
tradition.
1.7. Organizations for the Advancement of Bedouin Women
Currently, there are no organizations specifically run by Bedouin women. The
Bedouin community itself does not provide a social framework for women
outside of infrequent social gatherings under religious auspices. Some Bedouin
women have shown a great deal of interest in the formation of such
organizations. The social workers in the town Csyfe were the first to open a
women's recreational center in a Bedouin town. Some of the activities
provided by the center are workshops for learning Hebrew, classes to complete
the basic requirements for a high-school diploma, and social gatherings.
1.8. Health
The new Health Insurance law has been changing the face of health care for
Israel's Bedouin residents. For example, before the enactment of the new law,
20,000 residents of the Bedouin town of Rahat (about half of the city's
population) were uninsured. The remainder of the residents who were insured
belonged to the General Sick Fund, which only maintained one infirmary in the
entire city. The new law, which has guaranteed coverage for all of Israel's
residents, has led two additional sick funds to open branches in Rahat. In
addition, the Health Ministry has approved the construction of 6 new
infirmaries in officially recognized southern Bedouin towns. However, the
Ministry's southern district currently lacks the necessary funding and
labor-force to provide the full basic basket of services for the Bedouin
community. The shortage of doctors to fill the needs of the Bedouin community
has been estimated at 50% and the shortage of nurses has been estimated at 30%
(Belmeker, 1996). The Health Ministry has attempted to respond to the problem
by appropriating approximately 200,000 NIS each year since 1995 specifically
for the Bedouin sector, which have been expended on training seminars for
nurses to serve the Bedouin community.
An additional problem in applying the new law concerns the 40,000 Bedouins of
the south who live in areas where there are no permanent health services. They
are currently forced to walk at least 5 kilometers, or wait for traveling
doctors provided by the sick funds, in order to enjoy the services now
included in the basic basket of services. Presently, the government maintains
two traveling medical teams, and uses the services of an additional private
traveling medical team. Under the new law, infirmaries providing basic
services must be within a "reasonable distance" from the residence of the
insured. Therefore, in order to maintain the law's instructions, more
infirmaries must be erected closer to Bedouin villages. More attention should
also be given to those health services where the Bedouins' need is greater,
such as obstetrics and pediatrics; while 20%-25% of the population which makes
use of the Soroka hospital in Be'er-Sheva are Bedouins, over 45% of the births
in that hospital (11,000 in 1995) are those of Bedouin women.
1.9. Violence Against Bedouin Women
Social workers who work in Bedouin communities maintain that they manage to
prevent 20-30 girls each year from being murdered on account of having
"desecrated their family's honor," and have minimized the occurrence of such
murders altogether. The social workers use relatively unconventional methods
to prevent the murders, such as secret abortions. Although the notion of
"family honor" is deeply ingrained in the Bedouin ethos, the social workers
explain that parents are reluctant to react to their daughters' promiscuous
behavior unless it becomes publicly known and they are pressured to react by
their community.
2. Women on the Kibbutz
2.1. The Myth of Equality
Kibbutz movement ideology strives to create and maintain equality between the
sexes. This ideological emphasis on equality however, has failed to compensate
for the reality of female kibbutz member's inferior status, a problem which
has existed throughout kibbutz history.
The Associated Partnership Statute (categories of associations) - 1995,
defines a kibbutz as an organization which is its own settlement based on
joint ownership of property, independent work, equality and joint production,
consumption and education. According to this definition, women are entitled
to the same rights and responsibilities as any kibbutz member. In other words,
from a legal standpoint there is equality between men and women on the
kibbutz.
2.2. A Woman's Role in the Kibbutz
2.2.1. Education
During the past 25 years the right to higher education has been provided to
both male and female kibbutz members. Statistical studies show that 69% of
kibbutz men and 74% of kibbutz women, age 31- 40 have at least 13 years of
education. This gap narrows in poles taken of younger people, though more men
have advanced degrees.
Fields of study are often divided by gender, with most women studying social
sciences, psychology and art; and most men economics, earth science and
technical vocations.
Table 1 - Fields of Study
Men Women Total
Subject Absolute Absolute Absolute
Numbers Percents Numbers Percents Numbers Percents
Economics, 4252 75 1389 25 5641 100
Engineering,
Sciences
Art Education, 1457 23.5 4736 76.5 6193 100
Humanities
Source: TKM Statistical Division, 1994
In other fields of study this gender division is less extreme, for example in
economics and engineering.
Chart 1 - Students of Economics
Source: The Institute for Kibbutz Research, Haifa University
2.3. Employment
Most female kibbutz members are employed in education, domestic work or
public service, whereas most men are employed in agriculture, industry or
production management. In kibbutz industries, few women are employed as "blue
collar" workers, most are in secretarial positions. This division can be found
in executive positions as well, where most senior positions are filled by men.
Table 2 - Areas of Employment on Kibbutzim, by Gender
1978 1986-87 1994
Branch Women Men Women Men Women Men
Agriculture 1 31 3 22 5 23
Industry, Crafts
and Tourism 8 30 6 38 21 34
Public Services 37 10 30 6 26 16
Education 30 5 38 40 26 5
Secretarial 8 8 12 14 12 15.5
Other 7 16 11 16 10 6.5
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100
Source: The Institute for Kibbutz, Research, Haifa University, 1996
Table 3 - Level of Skill Required for Job
percents
Level of Training Women Men
Low 40 31
Medium 27 35
High 33 34
Total 100 100
In sum, it can be concluded that there is a clear division of labor based on
gender in kibbutz society. This division dictates which positions are to be
allocated to women and which to men.
2.4. Appointment of Men and Women to Public and Political Positions on the
Kibbutz
In the past twenty years, only 16 women have been appointed to management
positions on kibbutzim; today 5.7% of those in office are women, which does
not show a substantial increase from 1973. Over this same period, 34.5% of
those holding the position of kibbutz secretary were women, though the
number of women in other significant kibbutz management positions, such as
treasurer, has remained low. The following table shows that the number of
female chairpersons of committees in male dominated fields is statistically
insignificant.
Table 4 - Women Supervisors of Committees
Committee % Women
Education 80
Health 77
Budgeting 36
Workforce/Manpower 21.3
Money 8.5
Planning, Building 7.8
Sport 6.4
Kibbutz Economics 2.8
Auto Pool 1.1
Security 0
Source: The Institute for Kibbutz, Research, Haifa University, 1996
In sum, contemporary statistics about the division of labor on kibbutzim tend
to reflect that which was reported by researchers more than twenty years ago.
Men and women are active in fields which are an extension of their traditional
roles; men in fields of economy and economics related to sources of livelihood
and resources, and women in roles of care-givers.
ARTICLE 15
Equality Before the Law and in Civil Matters
1. State Parties shall accord to women equality with men before the law.
2. States Parties shall accord to women, in civil matters, a legal capacity
identical to that of men and the same opportunities to exercise that capacity.
They shall in particular give women equal rights to conclude contracts and to
administer property and treat them equally in all stages in courts and
tribunals.
3. States Parties agree that all contracts and all other private instruments
of any kind with a legal effect which is directed at restricting the legal
capacity of women shall be deemed null and void.
4. States Parties shall accord to men and women the same rights with regard to
the law relating to the movement of persons and the freedom to choose their
residence and domicile.
1. Legal Capacity of Women
As explained under Article 1, complete formal equality between men and women
before the law is entrenched in Israeli law, except in matters governed by
religious law. Women hold complete legal capacity to conclude contracts and
administer property. Women have the same rights as men to make contracts in
their own name, including those relating to credit, real estate and other
property, as well as to make other commercial transactions, notwithstanding
their personal status.
The Women's Equal Rights Law-1951 specifically relates to the issue of
marriage, providing complete legal capacity for a married woman with regards
to property "as if she were not married." This provision abrogated the power
of religious law which designates husbands as administrators and proprietors
of their wives' property.
2. Gender-Specific Legal Concepts
Two particular Israeli legal concepts apply to women and not to men: one is in
the area of social benefits, namely the concept of the home-maker, or rather
its gender-specific label of "housewife," which only applies to women and not
to men. The other is in the area of defenses under criminal law, namely the
defense of post-partum-syndrome which applies to rare cases where a woman who
suffers from severe depression after giving birth, consequently kills her
newborn baby. Section 303(a) to the Penal Law-1977 states that in such cases,
where the baby was under 12 months of age, the maximum punishment of the
mother is 5 years imprisonment. Section 303(b) makes clear that this special
defense does not preclude the possibility of an absolute immunity for reason
of insanity.
3. Equal Participation of Women in the Courts-System
Women are treated equally and participate equally in the civil-courts, both as
litigants, witnesses, lawyers and judges (qualifications to this formal
equality are discussed in the following section). The situation, however, is
different with respect to the religious courts system, which is part of the
national judicial system, and has exclusive jurisdiction in matters of
marriage and divorce, and concurrent jurisdiction in other matters of family
law.
Under Jewish law, women are not qualified to be witnesses. However, halachic
(Jewish law) authorities throughout the ages have found various solutions and
means to accept women's testimony, and in practice, rabbinical courts accept
their testimony and accord it the same evidential weight that is accorded to
men's testimony.
An interesting development had taken place with respect to the representation
of clients in rabbinical courts. Certified attorneys, whether men or women,
can represent clients in rabbinical courts (or in other religious courts) in
any and all matters. However, both rabbinical and Moslem courts recognize the
competence of rabbinical or sharia advocates to represent clients only in the
relevant religious courts, without being certified attornies. The Rabbinical
Advocates Law - 1955 originally applied to men alone, since it required
graduation from a yeshiva (an institute of higher learning of religion and
religious law, traditionally for men alone) as a primary condition for
qualification as a candidate to the profession. The law was amended in 1991
to include graduates of other educational institutes of higher learning that
are recognized by the Chief Rabbinical Court as eligible candidates for the
profession. However, no regulations or other directives were passed to
establish the criteria for such recognition. Only in 1994, after an institute
for higher Torah learning for women petitioned the High Court of Justice, did
the Chief Rabbinical Court decide upon the criteria for its recognition. The
High Court of Justice reviewed those criteria, and found that some of them,
such as the requirement of full-time everyday studies for full two years, were
intended to make it impossible for women students to qualify for candidacy,
and were therefore discriminatory. Several dozen women have since passed the
examinations and are now functioning as rabbinical advocates; they primarly
represent women clients.
3.1. Gender Bias in the Courts
3.1.1. Special Study of Gender Bias in Israeli Courts
In the early 1990s the Israeli Women's Network initiated a study on
gender-bias in Israeli courts. With the support of the Ford Foundation and
the academic backing of the Jerusalem Institute of Israel Research, the study
was designed to determine if and how gender bias was manifested in Israeli
courts. The study began in 1992, and concluded toward the end of 1996.
3.1.2. Main Findings of the Study
Some of the main findings of the research are as follows:
1. Judges seem to accord greater credibility to men than to women, both as
defendants and as lawyers. Women lawyers were significantly less successful
in persuading judges than were men lawyers, regarding both sentence length and
the ratio between prison term and maximum sentence. Lower sentences were
imposed when women were the prosecutors and higher sentences were imposed when
women were the defense attorneys. Furthermore, men prosecutors were most
persuasive when the defense attorney was a woman.
2. When the accused was a stranger to the woman victim, the prison term he was
sentenced to was almost double the sentence as when the accused was a family
member of the woman victim.
3. Women acting as sole judges (i.e. when not ruling as part of a panel of
judges) declare lighter sentences than their male counterparts. For example,
the average jail sentence in sex crimes, passed by a sole woman judge, stands
at 9.5 months, as compared to 23 months passed by sole male judges, for the
same crimes. Women judges tend to cite the negative characteristics of the
victim. On the other hand, in cases where judgment is passed by a panel of
three judges, when the panel includes a woman judge, the punishment is heavier
than when it is an all male panel.
4. It was further found that the rate of convictions in "crimes against life"
is lower when the victim is a woman, and that the period of imprisonment for
crimes against the lives of women is significantly lower than imprisonment for
crimes against the lives of men. The length of a jail sentence is
approximately 2 years shorter when the victim is a woman.
A summary of the study was submitted to Justice Barak, the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court, who decided on the establishment of a committee to
investigate the results of the report and its implications.
3.1.3. Workshops on Gender Bias for Judges
The researchers recommend, among other things, that continuing educational
programs for judges be instituted that will raise the issue of gender bias (as
well as other forms of bias in the courts). Experimental programs in that
direction were already initiated prior to the study by Judge Rotlevi of the
Tel-Aviv District Court. However, according to her report, those seminars
were not very successful, and attendance was low.
ARTICLE 16
Equality in Marriage and Family Law
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family
relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and
women:
a) The same right to enter into marriage;
b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only
with their free and full consent;
c) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at tits
dissolution;
d) The same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of their
marital status, in matters relating to their children; in all cases the
interests of the children shall be paramount;
e) The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing
of their children and to have access to the information, education, and means
to exercise these rights;
f) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship,
trusteeship and adoption of children or similar institutions where these
concepts exist in the national legislation; in all cases the interests of the
children shall be paramount;
g) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choose
a family name, a profession, and an occupation;
h) The same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition,
management, administration, enjoyment, and disposition of property, whether
free of charge or for a valuable consideration.
2. The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect and
all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a
minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an
official registry compulsory.
1. Introduction
This article is one of two that the State of Israel has ratified with
reservations, due to the fact that religious law governs family law in Israel,
insofar as the legal issues in question are classified as "matters of personal
status," and are not qualified by territorial legislation (i.e. civil laws
that specifically apply in both religious and civil courts). The scope of the
legislation termed "matters of personal status," which covers all personal
laws (except for Islamic laws), has narrowed over time, and currently includes
only marriage, divorce, alimony and child support. The scope of this
legislation regarding Moslems in Israel is broader, and includes child-custody
and paternity matters as well.
Until 1995, jurisdiction over family matters was divided between the religious
and the civil courts, and within the civil judicial system itself. This was
changed by the Family Court Law - 1995, which established a new family-law
division within the magistrate courts which was responsible for all family
matters under the jurisdiction of the civil system. The establishment of the
family-courts system, however, has not affected the jurisdictional split
between the religious and the civil judiciaries.
2. Reservations to Article 16
The maintenance of religious law in matters of family and divorce is perceived
to be one of the most vital components of Israeli law, since it ensures that
the State of Israel is the state of the Jewish people. It is thus considered
a foundational aspect of the sensitive relationship between religion and
state in Israel. Due to the reservation that the State of Israel entered with
regard to this article, insofar as the laws of personal status affect the laws
of various religious communities in Israel which do not conform with the
provisions of this Article, the following sections will not discuss the legal
situation in matters of marriages and divorce, nor in matters of spousal
support.
3. Some Demographic Data
Israel is a very family-oriented society. The desire to raise a family has
always been ranked highly in studies of Israeli Jewish high-school students,
although girls tend to rank it higher than boys. The family-oriented nature of
Israeli society is illustrated by the following data, which details rates of
marriage and percentages of non-married and never-married men and women in
different age-groups:
Table 1 - Population Aged 15 and Over, by Religion, Marital Status and Age
Source: CBS, SAI 1996
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
Table 2 - Median and Average Marriage Age
Source: CBS, SAI 1996
Marriage ages for both women and men have risen over the years, while the gaps
in the average and median ages of women as compared to those of men remain
more or less unchanged. The low marriage age of Moslem and Druze women is
particularly striking.
Divorce rates are considerably higher in the Jewish population than in the
Moslem population:
Table 3 - Persons Divorcing by Religion, Age and Year
Source: CBS, SAI 1996
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
It is important to note that the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) presents
the number of marriages as they appear in the official marriage and divorce
registrar records, which means those marriages and divorces that are conducted
in Israel in accordance with Israeli law.
4. Non-Marital Cohabitation
The Israeli legal system recognizes the state of non-marital cohabitation or
partnership, and extends rights and obligations to such unions. Thus, for
example, economic rights of non-marital partners have been equated to those of
married couples for purposes of pensions, social security entitlements,
resident's protection against eviction, damage awards under torts law, and
more. In the context of inheritance, an additional specification requires that
"no prior marriage exists" (i.e. a marriage that has not been terminated) for
either of the partners.
In addition to bestowing many economic rights to non-marital partnerships
there is a more substantive level of recognition given to such unions. The
Names Law-1956, and its 1996 amendment is an example. The amendment confirmed
a 1993 case, Efrat v. The Registrar, which directed the Ministry of Interior
to register the change of name of a woman who wanted to change her family name
to that of the man who was her non-marital partner. Justice Barak, who
deliberated on the case, went into a lengthy discussion about the legal and
social attitudes toward non-marital partnerships, and concluded that it is in
the public interest to encourage them as forms of family life which are as
equally important to society as "formal" families.
Another illustration of the more substantive level of recognition given to
non-marital unions can be found in legislation that imposes the same
obligations and duties upon both non-marital and marital partners. These
include obligations and duties regarding family-violence and duty of care
toward minors. The legislature has not gone as far as imposing mutual
positive obligations upon the unmarried partners toward each other, thus there
is no statutory obligation of support, but case law has held that such an
obligation could be construed as an implied commitment under the
circumstances. Similarly, case law has held the rule of community property
which was developed by the Supreme Court to regulate the area of matrimonial
property before the enactment of the Spouses (Property Relations) Law - 1973,
applies equally to non-marital partners.
Notwithstanding the broad scope of recognition, there still are some areas in
which such relationships are not equated to those of formal marriage. Such
areas include the provision of immunity from spousal testimony in criminal
proceedings, the right of spousal entry to Israel according to the Entry into
Israel Law-1952 , and the right to adopt a child together.
On the level of relationships between non-marital partners and their mutual
children, as far as they are determined according to civil law, the lack of
formal marriage between the parents has no significance whatsoever upon their
duties and rights toward their children. The situation is different with
respect to Moslems, who are governed by religious law in this area.
5. Minimum Marital Age
The Marriage Age Law-1950, states that the minimum marital age for all women
in Israel is 17. No minimal age for men is set. Since the substantive law
that applies in matters of marriage is derived from the individual's religious
law, the minimal age for men would be drawn from religious law.
The minimal age requirement is accompanied by provisions that make the
arrangement of under-age marriages a criminal offense punishable by up to two
years imprisonment. The possible offenders include the person who arranges the
marriage, the person who conducts the marriage, and the marrying man himself.
The under-age woman is excluded. The law also provides that the mere fact that
a marriage was conducted in violation of this law is a ground for divorce.
Article 5 of the Marriage Age Law-1950 provides for two alternative grounds
for judicial permission of under-age marriage. The first one relates to
circumstances in which the under-age woman is pregnant from or has given birth
to the child of the man whom she asks permission to marry. No age limit at
all is attached to this ground for exception. The second relates to
unspecified "special circumstances" that would justify immediate marriage,
provided the woman is over 16 years old. Since the legislature has left those
"special circumstances" unspecified, the Supreme Court has taken it upon
itself to provide instructions as to the substance of those circumstances. In
one of the leading cases, then Justice Barak firmly stated that a community's
custom and tradition do not justify marital exception, since it is those
traditions and customs that the Marriage Age Law-1950 was set to abolish.
Criminal sanctions contribute to the reduction of the phenomenon of marriages
involving minors. However, it has not been eliminated altogether, as can be
seen from the following tables, which contain data of marital ages in Israel.
Table 4 - Marriage of Minors Up to Age 17
Jews Moslems
Year Brides Grooms Brides Grooms
Up to 16 17 17 Up to 16 17 17
Average
1975-1979 12.3 48.4 1.2 19.6 133.1 2.2
Average
1985-1989 2.4 17.4 0.3 15.4 140.2 1.7
1991 0.9 13.9 0.1 10.1 179.1 0.7
1992 0.7 11.4 0.5 179.7
1993* 0.6 10.6 0.2
*Statistics are note available for this year for Moslims.
Source: CBS, SAI 1996
Table 5 - Marriage of Young People Up to Age 19
Age Jews Moslems Christians Druze
Grooms
Total 26,680 7,857 795 703
Total to age 19 652 540 5 53
Up to 17 18 16
18 166 186 5 16
19 468 338 37
Brides
Total 26,680 7,857 795 703
Total to age 19 3,258 3,845 149 386
Up to 16 27 15 4 2
17 397 1,558 28 157
18 1,147 1,207 45 117
19 1,687 1,045 72 110
Source: CBS, SAI 1996
6. Bigamy
Since questions of marriage and divorce are determined by religious law alone,
the secular legislature cannot decree bigamous marriages invalid, when such
marriages are recognized by the relevant religious laws, but can only operate
against them through criminal law. Section 176 of the Penal Law-1977, makes
bigamy a criminal offense punishable by 5 years imprisonment. Sections 181-182
prohibit forcing divorce upon one's wife with no judicial decree of divorce,
and makes the arrangement of such prohibited marriages or divorces a criminal
offense as well.
Sections 179-180 provide exceptions for the rule against bigamy. Section 180
applies to all individuals whose religious affiliation is other than Jewish,
and indicates that incapacitation of one's spouse or 7 years absence theerof
may justify marriage to another person. Section 179 applies only to Jewish
people, providing immunity to a person whose second marriage was permitted by
a rabbinical court's judgment that underwent the specific Halachic procedure
to make it religiously valid.
Since religious law accommodates bigamous marriage, further legislative
intervention must be made in particular areas of law where the interests of
the two wives may conflict. Such accommodations were developed in response to
certain population groups who immigrated to Israel. For example, the
Successions Law - 1965, specifically states (in section 146), that when the
man who dies was married to two women, both of them share in the estate, where
ordinarily the estate is given to the sole wife of the deceased.
7. Parents and Children
7.1 Child Custody
The Capacity and Guardianship Law - 1962, which regulates the issue of child
custody, is a territorial act. Thus, it applies to all individuals
notwithstanding their religious affiliation. The act provides for equal
responsibility of both parents toward their children, and directs them to act
"in the best interest of the child." Recognition of both parents as equal,
natural guardians of their children was also codified in the Women's Equal
Rights Law-1951.
Confirming the equality of both parents' guardianship over their children, the
Capacity and Guardianship Law-1962 sets a "tender years presumption," which
imposes a rule of maternal preference whenever children under six years old
are involved. Loss of maternal preference can occur under very rare and
extreme circumstances when the mother is considered unfit. In general, most
courts tend to favor maternal custody, even when older children are involved.
It is important to emphasize, however, that the rule of the "best interests of
the child" is the governing norm in all cases, and the maternal preference is
simply an implementation of this rule, since it is usually perceived to be in
the best interests of the child - especially during infancy - to remain within
the custody of the mother.
7.2. Paternity and Unwed Mothers
Marital ties between the parents or their lack thereof do not affect the
relationship between the parents and the children, as far as civil law is
concerned. Due to the differences in the jurisdiction and scope of Moslem law
in Israel, matters of paternity are under exclusive jurisdiction of sharia
courts and are governed by Moslem law. A major change recently occurred in
this area, when a Supreme Court precedent removed paternity suits and child
support claims concerning children born out of marriage from the exclusive
jurisdiction of the sharia courts to the jurisdiction of civil law.
7.3. Child Support
Family Law Amendment (Maintenance) - 1959 refers to the individual's personal
(religious) law as the law governing questions of child and spousal support.
A 1981 amendment to the law provides that the child support obligation of both
parents shall be determined relative to each parents' income.
In order to deal with the problem of non-payment, the Alimony Law (Security
Payment) - 1972, provides assurance of payment by the National Insurance
Institute (NII) upon request by the custodian parent, once the indebted parent
defaults on his or her payments. This revolutionary mechanism thus releases
the creditor from tedious legal proceedings through the Executor's Office, and
transfers them to the NII who will take the necessary legal actions against
the recalcitrant spouse. The NII in the meantime pays the creditor the amount
that was set in the regulations. This is an important expression of Israel's
commitment to provide a security net to prevent dependents from falling below
the poverty line. Through this mechanism, Israeli law manages to avert some of
the unfortunate economic consequences of marital-breakdowns for women and
children, which are often enhanced by paternal evasion of economic
responsibilities.
8. Married Women's Legal Status with Respect to Property Acquisition and
Division of Marital Property upon Marital Breakdown
Following the Women's Equal Rights Law-1951, the Supreme-Court's case-law
removed the issue of property distribution from the rule of religious law, and
ruled that this subject is to be governed by civil-secular law alone.
The governing principle regarding distribution of marital property under
Israeli law is the principle of community property. This principle has
developed in the Supreme Court's rulings since the early 1960's, and was
incorporated into a specific law in the Spouses (Property Relations) Law -
1973. The law applies to all couples who were married after 1973, and
designates their community property unless the couple contracted otherwise.
The judicial "community property rule" applies to all couples who were married
before that, and to non-marital cohabitants as well, and works as a
presumption that the partners have an equal share in the property, provided
there was a "joint effort" by both partners in the accumulation of the family
assets.
In principle, the rule of community property, whether embedded in the case law
or in the 1973 act, dictates equal sharing not only of property assets and
rights, but also of debts and obligations, when these have accrued in relation
to the communal property and are not personal in nature. So far the trend in
the case law has been to make it rather difficult for creditors to prove the
communal nature of the debts. .
9. Law of Inheritance
The Successions Law - 1965 treats men and women with complete equality.
Husbands and wives are equally entitled to each other's estates, and sons and
daughters are equally entitled to the same share in their parents' estate, and
so on. There is, however, one exception in favor of women, and that is the
widow's right to alimony payments from her deceased husband's estate and the
right to remain in the home in which they lived together, while no such rights
exist in relation to male widowers.
10. Names law
The law relating to the selection of family names has undergone a major change
in the past year. Until then, section 6 of the Names Law - 1956 stated that as
a rule, a married woman takes her husband's family name upon marriage,
although she may keep her own name or add it to her husband's name.
Practically, however, women who wanted to retain their own names discovered
that their names were automatically changed upon registration of their
marriages, without asking for their preferences. In February 1996 the law was
amended, and section 6 now refers to both men and women, stating that upon
marriage, a person may retain his or her former name, choose the spouse's
family name, add the spouse's family name to the person's former name, select
a new family name identical to a new one chosen by his or her spouse, or add
it to the former name. In any case, the person shall notify the marriage
registrar of his or her choice, making it clear that marriage does not
automatically lead to a change of names. In addition to this reform, a
provision that mandated that any change in the family name of married couples
must be made by the husband and wife together was removed.
As to family names of children, section 3 states that a child acquires his or
her parents' family name. If parents have different family names, then, as a
rule, the child acquires the father's family name, unless both parents agree
that the child would acquire both names. This provision was not changed in the
1996 reform.
11. Single Mothers
The Israeli legal system recognizes the growing phenomenon of single-parent
families headed by women and accords them a variety of social benefits and
aid. The Single Parent Family Law-1992 guarantees these social benefits to
single mothers.
For example, in recent decision of the Haifa district court, the court voided
a decision taken by kibbutz members not to include a single-mother with her
minor child among the eligible member-families for a new family housing unit,
notwithstanding her seniority, since she and her child were not considered a
"family." In rejecting the kibbutz's internal decision, the district court
asserted that the single-parent family is equal to that of the two-parent,
normative family.
Moreover, in February 1997 a decision of the Supreme Court voided regulations
that compelled unmarried women to undergo psychological and social worker
evaluations before they could receive fertility treatments, such as artificial
insemination and ovum donation. The regulations are to expire in 6 months,
and the Ministry of Health pledged that within a month an internal directive
that guarantees equal access to reproductive health services, regardless of
marital status, will be issued.
12. New Reproductive Technologies and Surrogacy
There are more fertility clinics per capita in Israel than in any other
country in the world. Moreover, all Israeli residents are entitled to up to
seven rounds of in-vitro fertilization treatment, up to the birth of two
children, as part of their basic basket of health services.
Israel has become the first state to positively sanction and regulate
surrogacy, as evidenced in the March 1996 legislation: Surrogate Motherhood
Agreements (Approval of Agreement and Status of Newborn) Law - 1996. This law
was the result of a long process that included both the recommendations of a
public-professional committee (the Aloni Committee, appointed by the Ministers
of Justice and of Health in 1991), and several appeals to the High Court of
Justice. The law sanctions full surrogacy (where the carrying mother is not
genetically related to the resulting child), under very specific conditions.
The whole procedure is legal only if done through the prior approval of the
surrogacy agreement by a statutory committee composed of seven members of
relevant professions (physicians, social-workers, psychologists, attorneys,
with mandatory representation of three members of each gender) and a religious
official of the contracting couple's religion.
The conditions for approval of surrogacy contracts are:
1) That all parties be adult residents of Israel;
2) That the carrying mother be unmarried (with possible exception under
extenuating circumstances);
3) That there is no family-relation between the surrogate and the designated
parents;
4) That the surrogate's religion is the same as the designated mother's
religion, and;
5) That the sperm used is the designated father's sperm.
The petition for approval must be accompanied by a psychological evaluation of
the parties and a medical evaluation as to the inability of the designated
mother to become pregnant or carry a pregnancy. The Committee may approve
monthly payments to the carrying mother to cover actual costs in addition to
compensation for suffering, loss of time, income or earning capacity, or any
other reasonable compensation. Any payment the carrying mother receives
beyond the amount approved by the Committee is illegal, and subjects all the
parties of the agreement, including the carrying mother, to criminal
sanctions. If there is a brokerage involved, the Committee needs to see the
brokerage agreement as well, but there is no provision for its approval or any
restrictions on the brokerage fees.
The third chapter of the law deals with the status of children born as the
result of such agreements. In principle, the law designates the contracting
couple as the child's legal parents. In order to formalize this principle,
within a week of the child's birth the designated parents must apply for a
"parenthood order," which the court shall grant, unless convinced it is
contrary to the best interests of the child. Prior to the issuance of a
parenthood order, the carrying mother may ask to withdraw from the agreement,
and the court may grant her petition if convinced that a change in the
circumstances justifies her retraction, and the child's best interests will
not be jeopardized. In such a case, the court will issue an order which
decrees that the carrying mother is the child's legal mother, and may order
restitution of expenses. No retraction is possible after the issuance of a
parenthood order. The law contains further provisions dealing with other
possible complications.
As of January 1997, the Committee has examined 10 applications and has
approved 3 agreements. According to the Committee's administrative assistant,
there are presently 50 couples seeking surrogacy agreements. Some couples
apply through brokerage agencies, but most apply to the Committee
independently.
Significantly, throughout the public debate that surrounded all stages of
enactment of this law, the only public voice that was heard against legal
sanction of surrogacy was that of the Israel Women's Network.
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