The deans of Israel's medical schools warned Monday that the bill to allow gender segregation in academia poses a direct danger to public health, ahead of its second and third readings in the Knesset this week. In a letter to lawmakers, they said the legislation would make gender the determining factor in medical training, replacing lecturers' expertise.
The deans of Israel's medical schools issued a public warning Monday against the gender segregation bill, which is set to receive its final votes in the Knesset plenum this week. In a letter to all MKs, the medical educators argued that the proposed law would undermine the quality of medical training by prioritizing gender over professional expertise.
The bill, sponsored by MK Limor Son Har-Melech (Otzma Yehudit), was approved by the Knesset Education Committee for second and third readings on July 6, after weeks of heated debate. It would permit separate study tracks for men and women in advanced-degree programs, as well as in public campus spaces such as libraries and cafeterias.
The deans' warning adds a new dimension to the controversy, framing the legislation not only as a matter of academic freedom or equality, but as a direct threat to public health. The letter states that the law would 'turn gender into the determining factor in training medical teams, instead of the expertise of the lecturers.'
Opponents of the bill, including the Naamat women's organization and MKs from the opposition, have previously called for boycotts of universities that comply with the law. The coalition has pushed the legislation through committee votes in recent weeks, with nine days remaining before the general election.
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