Israel Update - March 2010

Geneva Initiative Event
On March 17, 2010, the Geneva Initiative hosted Inclusive Security for a two-hour roundtable in Tel Aviv on the role of women in peace processes. The event convened 20 diverse participants, including women from the government, current and former Members of Knesset, leaders from Israel’s civil society and women’s movement, journalists, academics, and women from the religious community. Carla Koppell, director of The Institute, provided participants with insight into how women around the world have pushed for and participated in negotiations, and the difference their participation made in each process. Women Waging Peace Network member and former Brigadier General Israela Oron joined Inclusive Security to speak to the importance of women’s inclusion, particularly related to processes of security and peace in Israel. Conversation at the roundtable focused on the need to promote Israeli women to key decision making positions and possible strategies for increasing women’s involvement in policy shaping and in negotiations.

Consultation with Women Leaders from Inclusive Security’s Roster of Israeli Women Experts
From March 18 – 19, 2010, The Institute for Inclusive Security convened a diverse group of Israeli women leaders to create a strategy for increasing the visibility and influence of women in Israel over foreign policy. Bringing together women from Inclusive Security’s roster of Israeli women experts, participants hailed from various sectors, backgrounds, and political parties.

Objectives for the March 2010 workshop were to: 

• Formulate a strategic plan that defines priorities for enhancing women’s participation and highlights women’s priorities in peacebuilding; 
• Examine examples from around the world of  successfully involving women and marginalized populations in peacebuilding efforts with an eye towards adaptation to the local context; and
• Identify specific gender-related issues relevant to Israel’s foreign policy and the application of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 to peace negotiations.

The workshop began with a focus on the important role women play in building peace around the world, then focused on the role of women in the Israeli context, giving participants the opportunity to develop a series of arguments for women’s inclusion in Israel. Inclusive Security introduced global models and examples of women’s advocacy efforts, and participants split into small groups to identify their priorities for advocacy and action.

While each of the small group’s conversations varied, a major and common theme emerged: Despite their expertise and experience, women’s perspectives on international affairs are largely absent from the public discourse. National foreign policy is viewed primarily through a narrow militaristic lens, and as a result, a range of non-military issues critical to long-term peace and prosperity are insufficiently addressed. There is a clear need for new voices in shaping Israel’s foreign and domestic security policy.

Based on these small group discussions, participants decided they wanted to form a broad coalition to ensure women’s participation in peacebuilding, particularly in Israel’s foreign policy and national security decision-making. The group decided to work together to advance the implementation of Amendment 4 to the Equalization of the Rights of the Women Law (2005), mandating the representation of women on public committees and national policy-shaping teams.

Participants spent the next day identifying indicators of success and fleshing out both their goal and the activities needed to achieve it. Finally, they identified specific next steps the group would undertake before Inclusive Security reconvened participants in the summer to create a formal action and advocacy plan.

Research
While in the region, Inclusive Security conducted interviews to research the history and influence of Israeli and Palestinian women on the negotiations. Staff met with: 

• Channa Kehat, founder of Kolech: The Religious Women’s Forum
• Member of Knesset Einat Wilf (Labor Party), currently serving on the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
• Naomi Chazan, Women Waging Peace Network member and president of the New Israel Fund
• Orna Sasson-Levy, senior lecturer at Bar-Ilan University and chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology
• Dorit Abramovitch, author of a newly published report on feminist organizations in Israel, sponsored by the Heinrich Boell Foundation
• Aida Touma-Sliman, director of Women Against Violence
  Brigadier General (retired) Israela Oron
• Colonel (retired) Miri Eisin
• Sarai Aharoni, lecturer at the Gender Studies Program at Bar-Ilan University

For more information on the March 2010 trip or Inclusive Security's work in Israel, contact Allison Shean or Rebecca Miller.