Skip to main content

Israelis take two steps forward on equality, then two steps back

Israeli consumers protested against companies segregating men and women or excluding on a racial basis, but the judiciary and government ministries continue to back gender segregation.
Israelis protest against gender segregation and violence towards women by ultra Orthodox Jewish extremists on December 27, 2011 in the town of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem. The protest comes after a wave of incidents in Israel in which women have been compelled to sit at the back of segregated buses serving ultra-Orthodox areas or get off, despite court rulings that women may sit where they please. AFP PHOTO/GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)
Read in 

Two Israeli companies generated public protest this week over the alleged violation of workers' and customers' rights under ultra-Orthodox pressure. In fact, it took just a day or two for each of these companies to backtrack in response to public outcry.

The first company is Tempo, the owner of Barkan wines. Its CEO, Jack Bar, renounced a previous decision to remove workers of Ethiopian descent from the vineyard's production line out of concern that they are not Jewish. The story was exposed in a June 25 report on the Kan public broadcasting corporation about a decision to transfer workers of Ethiopian background from the wine production line to other roles. The report revealed that the decision stemmed from a demand of kashrut inspectors from Eda Haredit, a private kashrut certification organization considered stringent. The inspectors cast doubt on the Jewishness of one of the Ethiopian workers, and management decided to transfer all workers of this background to other roles at the winery. (Wine that comes in contact with non-Jews is considered non-kosher.)

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.