The Knesset Education Committee approved a bill for its second and third (final) readings that would allow gender segregation not only in classrooms but also in public campus areas such as libraries, cafeterias, and labs, according to N12.
The Knesset Education Committee on Monday approved an expanded version of a bill to permit gender segregation in Israeli academia, clearing it for final votes in the plenum. The bill now allows segregation not only in advanced-degree classrooms — as the earlier version stipulated — but also in public campus areas including libraries, cafeterias, and laboratories, N12 reports.
This marks the culmination of a legislative process The Zioneer has tracked since late June. The committee approved the original bill (limited to classrooms) for final readings on Monday at 12:42 Jerusalem. That version had been debated since June 29, with Tel Aviv University law professor Yofi Tirosh warning it would 'build ghettos' rather than integration. An earlier committee discussion on June 29 saw MK Naama Lazimi (The Democrats) removed after a commotion. By Sunday, university heads had warned in an urgent letter that the bill would create 'second-rate degrees' for women, harm research and training quality, and require significant additional funding.
The bill, sponsored by MK Limor Son Har-Melech (Otzma Yehudit), overrides a High Court ruling that had prohibited gender segregation in master's and doctoral programs. Son Har-Melech has said the legislation restores choice and ends what she termed 'progressive coercion' in academia.
Tonight's expansion to public campus spaces — libraries, cafeterias, and labs — significantly broadens the bill's scope. The legislation now proceeds to the Knesset plenum for its second and third readings. Final passage would mark a major shift in Israeli higher-education policy. Details of the voting timeline and any opposition efforts to halt the bill remain unconfirmed.
4 developments
- DevelopingKnesset Education Committee begins voting on academic gender segregation bill
- DevelopingMK Naama Lazimi removed from Knesset committee discussion on academic gender segregation bill
- StrongNaamat chair urges boycotting universities that enforce gender segregation law
- DevelopingKnesset advances bill extending statute of limitations for sex offenses
Source and signal
- Internal intake