In the frame of the KAS-IWN cooperation, a special meeting of IWN’s Municipal Forum took place at the Knesset. Representatives of Israel Women’s Network and three Members of Knesset met with Prof. Dagmar Schipanski, the Speaker of the Parliament of the German Federal State of Thuringia, and discussed the status of women in Israel and Germany and more specifically the political involvement of women in their respective countries.

Chairman of the Committee on the Status of Women, Knesset Member Gideon Sa’ar, presented a short history of its work and the laws passed by the Knesset towards the advancement of women in Israel. In close cooperation with the Committee, the Israel Women’s Network plays a concrete and important role in the battle for real equality. IWN lobbies for further legislation in fields such as tax exemption for child care centers, equal employment opportunity and considers itself as “the Watchdog” for Women at the Knesset.

Knesset Member Amira Dotan, formerly head of the Women’s Corps in the Israel Defense Forces, presented her own experience as a woman in typical men’s worlds, such as the army and the Parliament. A bill that she had recently submitted has already been accepted by the government. It stipulates that any bill proposed to the Knesset must include not only clear content and cost estimation but also precise information on the way this bill could affect women in Israel.

Former citizen of the Soviet Union and Knesset Member Marina Solodkin is currently the Deputy-Minister in charge of Immigration and Absorption. In her work in favor of the new immigrants, she puts great emphasis on their political integration through local elections. She also cooperates with the Committee on the Status of Women in the frame of her activities to help single families (which are numerous among new immigrants).

The main part of the discussion was dedicated to comparing the status of women in Germany and in Israel, especially at the political level.

In the course of visits to Germany organized by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, representatives of IWN as well as MK Amira Dotan had already been exposed to the political situation in Germany and more specifically to the status of women. Prof. Schipanski concentrated her expose on the themes of child care and working women as well as women in politics. A lively discussion emerged as in both countries the situation is exactly the opposite. Whereas Germany can boast a rather large participation of women in local and national politics, Israel is still struggling to achieve real equality in that sphere.

35 percent of the members of the Thuringian Landtag are women and three women are speakers of federal state parliaments. In the Knesset, however, there are only 17 women for 103 men (even if the Knesset speaker is one of the 17 female Knesset members).

According to Professor Schipanski, following the GDR tradition in which women enjoyed more rights than in the West, women in former East German states are more involved in public life and in the advancement of equal chances for women. To that purpose Prof. Schipanski has committed herself to creating a working group of men and women who share their different experiences in order to develop and implement new ideas in child care. The State of Thuringia is leading the new trend in Germany in investing more finances and developing new material for kindergarten.

In Israel, however, most women are active outside their homes since a well developed child care system allows them to work even with rather large families. On the other hand, the Committee on the Status of Women and IWN are considering different ways to increase the number of women in the Knesset and to encourage women to run in election campaigns and participate in local governments.

A new legislation is being discussed which would give extra financing to the parties who include more women candidates on their national election lists.

In the frame of the KAS-IWN Municipal Forum, which includes all the women members of local governments, special workshops are being planned for women who consider running in the municipal elections as well as for elected councilwomen who need personal training and consulting in campaign planning.

A very interesting and lively discussion followed. Prof. Schipanski and the Israeli participants expressed the wish to meet again in order to exchange further views.

Catherine Hirschwitz