We are a party of women.

We know from personal experience the challenges of raising a family in a country which, on the most fundamental level, not only does not support us, but seems to work against us. We know how difficult it is to provide for a family when both you and your children are deprived access to proper education. We know the necessity of dealing with insufficient means and violence not only in the home but also by the courts meant to protect us.

We are a party of women because we are tired of sitting quietly waiting for someone else to decide that our personal and family needs are important enough. We have been waiting for 67 years for there to be room for us on the national agenda. We are done waiting.

We are a party of Charedi women. We deeply respect the values of Judaism. These values include respect of all people, assisting the poor and a dedication to the people of Israel, the Torah of Israel and the land of Israel.

 

Our battle is centered on a number of core issues:

Education

 

The state of our education system is appalling.

Israeli governments talk about "free education". However, not only is education not free, it is also essentially not education. The dominant political parties check the "education" box of their platform without even attempting to understand the needs of the children of Israel, from infants to young adults. Of course they do not provide a sufficient solution. At the most they create a distorted system, where the amendments further erode the ability to give our children what they deserve.

 

Infants

There is no system in place for babies aged 0-3. Maternity leave is 3 months long, but the complex and entangled law system in Israel make daycare facilities practically an illegal phenomenon. There is no supervision of the care our children receive at such young ages, and the costs inflate every year as a result of poor and shortsighted economic policy.

 

Toddlers

Three year-olds, who are required starting this year to enter the government planned system will have to survive in a group of 35 toddlers, entrusted to one kindergarten teacher and one assistant. That's 2 adults for 35 toddlers, many only recently or not even potty trained. Despite their young age, the toddlers are not able to nap during the day and the timing of their meals is far from suiting their needs.

Our children do not receive "free education". Under the conditions described they do not even receive care or attention. No kindergarten teacher, no matter how dedicated, can give the proper amount of attention to all 35 3 year olds. No child so young should spend his days in a constant war for survival.

 

Children and teenagers

Large portions of our society spend many years in schools but are not getting the most basic tools for financial independence and the ability to contribute to society. It is also true for schools with the pretension of teaching "core subjects". They fail in preparing our children for their final exams (matriculation exams) and cause them to reach the job market lacking skills and preparation. They spend 12 years in crowded classrooms that are not suited to the physical and mental needs of children. They too are in a constant war for survival, and despite many words to that effect, there is no real change in the national priority that allows us to provide them with what they deserve.

We must ensure that all our children, across the country, regardless of religion, background or sex are afforded access to proper education and not only cheap babysitters. We need to provide them with the academic tools that will ensure their future and independence. We must make it clear that we will not stand idly by while Knesset parties force our sons and daughters, our future, to grow up locked into "traditional", or more accurately, obsolete,  roles that are no longer relevant.

We will not allow for our children's needs to be pushed aside to fit graphs, numbers and budgets. Painful concessions must be made. Not on the backs of our children.

We need representatives who understand that the care of children, in the years which shape their lives,  requires a general reform and not just a bandaid in the form of another teacher's assistant. We need to ensure that the government takes care of our children and not only takes credit for achievements which have a symbolic significance at most.

 

Free is not enough, we need education as well!

We are done waiting

The Job Market and the Economic Environment

 

Women experience discrimination in the workplace, their paycheck and in the responsibility for the future generation.  The entire system is set to fit gender roles that no longer exist for the majority of the Israeli society. Maternity leave is too short, the work hours are too long and the care and education system fails even to answer parents' needs with regards to vacations and work hours that fit those of the children.

The solution cannot be only a longer school day or an after school program. The solution is not forcing children to spend even longer hours in a failed system providing negligible positive value at best. The solution is, again, systemic.

The two systems- educational and economic- need to be constructed to fit one another, taking into consideration the needs of the men, women and children in the system. The Israeli work culture needs to be in line with the Israeli society which cherishes family values. We need to find a correct balance for all sides between the home and the workplace. We need flexibility which allows parents to raise their children with a peace of mind while providing employers with more efficient and devoted employees.

We cannot talk about equally sharing the load of contributing to society in a system that is so inadequate in providing for the needs of women and families.

 

Equally sharing the load begins with equality

We are done waiting

The Treatment of Women in the Court Systems

 

The treatment of women in the Rabbinical Court system is disgraceful. Women wait for alarming periods of time to win back their freedom or even schedule a court session. The loss of these vital fertility years often sentences them to infertility and loneliness.  Women find themselves humiliated in the courts, something that has nothing to do with the Jewish law. Women of low financial means are tormented not in the name of the Halacha (the Jewish law), but by a narrow and far reaching interpretation of it, which many times involves external interests. The treatment of women in the Rabbinical courts requires an urgent improvement.

It is the only official system in the State of Israel which, in its entirety, preserves the domination of the patriarchy. Women do not get justice, and very often not even a proper hearing. When there is no respect for women in the palaces of justice, legitimacy is given in the streets for women to be tormented, disenfranchised and excluded. In this manner demands are rising for a woman's face not to be seen in public, for her to sit at the back of the bus, and her body is not to be mentioned (even with respect to health). We are being forcefully pushed out from all aspects of life in Israel.

 

No more!

We will change the system from the bottom!

"… judge your neighbor fairly" (Leviticus, 19,15).

We are done waiting