Top universities come out against legislation to expand gender segregation in academia

The leaders of Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Bar-Ilan University and the Technion have come out against legislation to expand gender segregation in academia, ahead of final votes on the bill.

The legislation advanced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition earlier this week would permit universities and colleges to offer gender-segregated advanced degrees.

Opposition lawmakers and academic representatives have roundly denounced the bill, arguing that it unnecessarily expands gender segregation beyond existing arrangements; prioritizes religious rights over the rights of female students and lecturers to equality, dignity and freedom of movement; and harms academic freedom and the quality of teaching and research.

“This won’t happen with us as long as I’m fulfilling my duty; this is a real tangible danger,” said Tel Aviv University head Ariel Porat in a letter sent Thursday, according to the Haaretz daily.

Porat said that the legislation would presumably also hurt non-Orthodox students, as budgetary constraints would mean that some institutions would be unable to hold separate classes just for Haredi students and would therefore impose the separation on all students.

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Jerusalem’s Hebrew University said gender segregation was “alien to the spirit of Hebrew University since its foundation and completely contradicts our values,” and warned of “direct harm to academic freedom, the quality of research and eventually society itself.”

Bar-Ilan University, traditionally viewed as having a more religiously-observant student population, said in its letter to Knesset members ahead of the final votes on the legislation that the law would harm academic research.

The university said that the proposed legislation is “not good for Israeli academia, is likely to harm women, and is not good for the public on whose behalf it claims to speak,” Israel Hayom reported.

“In advanced degrees — the essence of which is a research meeting, critical debate, joint laboratory work, and exposure to differing opinions — segregation means a violation of equality and also a direct violation of the quality of research, academic training, and teaching freedom,” the university said.

The Technion said in a statement that it would continue to be “open, equal, and respectful to all who come through its gates, and will continue to act according to these values,” Haaretz said.

The Knesset Education Committee voted Monday to advance a bill to expand gender segregation in academia to the Knesset plenum for its final two readings.

The bill, which had been expected to be voted on in the plenum later Monday but ended up not being included in the day’s agenda, would allow universities and colleges to offer gender-segregated master’s and doctoral degree programs subject to approval by the Council for Higher Education.

The legislation builds on a 2021 High Court ruling that upheld the Council for Higher Education’s policy permitting limited and specific gender-segregated undergraduate programs aimed at integrating ultra-Orthodox students into higher education and, ultimately, the workforce.

The court stressed at the time that the arrangement was specifically intended for the Haredi community and imposed safeguards, including limiting segregation to classrooms in mixed institutions and prohibiting discrimination against female lecturers.

The new legislation would extend that framework to master’s and doctoral programs and be open to all students, not only the Haredi community, while a proposed amendment by Shas MK Yossi Taieb to expand segregation to additional areas of campuses was rejected.

Proponents framed the bill as increasing educational opportunities for religiously-observant women, with bill sponsor MK Limor Son Har-Melech of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party arguing the legislation will “advance women from sectors that have not received the opportunities they deserve,” while committee chair MK Zvi Sukkot of the far-right Religious Zionism party said it would “expand freedom of choice.”

Education Committee member and The Democrats MK Naama Lazimi condemned the “terrible bill” on Monday, saying lawmakers who oppose women serving in the Knesset or whose parties bar female candidates, including several of the committee members, “have no right to strip us of our freedoms and rights.”