Feminists Empower Opposition In New Israeli Knesset
Mazal Mualem foresees the new Knesset opposition parties to be both diverse and formidable.
The emerging opposition has excellent opening odds to be recorded as one of the strongest in the history of the Knesset. The combination of combative women and ultra-Orthodox and Arab men, all of whom head parties with a social-welfare orientation and represent weaker elements of the population, promises that it will be interesting.
When one thinks about it, this is also likely to be good news for rehabilitating the image of the opposition institution. The outgoing Knesset transformed the opposition to a lifeless entity, empty of content and symbol of retreat vis-à-vis a predatory government, to the extent of threatening the democratic balance of power.
The opposition will be a combination of two strong, experienced female politicians, Labor Party Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich (who will lead the opposition) and Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On; and the heads of the ultra-Orthodox and Arab parties. All of them are experienced political animals that can challenge [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu’s middle-class government of [HaBayit HaYehudi leader] Naftali Bennett and [Yesh Atid leader] Yair Lapid, and make their life difficult.
Ostensibly, the opposition doesn’t seem to have a chance: Yachimovich and Gal-On are on one side, facing the heads of Shas (Eli Yishai, Aryeh Deri, Ariel Atias) and heads of Yahadut HaTorah (Moshe Gafni, Yaakov Litzman). Two highly esteemed, combative feminists who head left-wing parties, facing strong ultra-Orthodox men who represent a masculine society that excludes their women from the Knesset.
