Knesset approves law expanding gender segregation in academia

Legislation to allow universities and schools to offer segregated master’s and doctoral degree programs passes 52-43 over objections of academic representatives

By Ariela Karmel

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

The Knesset voted 52-43 early Thursday morning to pass a law to expand gender segregation in higher education by permitting universities and colleges to offer segregated master’s and doctoral degree programs subject to approval by the Council for Higher Education.

The law builds upon 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 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 make it available 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 frame the law as increasing educational opportunities for religious women, with the legislation’s sponsor Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech arguing the legislation will “advance women from sectors that have not received the opportunities they deserve,” while committee chair and Religious Zionism Zvi Sukkot has said it would “expand freedom of choice.”

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Opposition lawmakers and academic representatives, who campaigned intensely against the law’s passage, argue that it unnecessarily expands gender segregation beyond existing arrangements, prioritizing religious rights over the rights of female students and lecturers to equality, dignity and freedom of movement while harming academic freedom and the quality of teaching and research.

The law was among several pieces of legislation that Haredi parties demanded be passed in exchange for supporting key coalition bills before the Knesset dissolves on Friday ahead of elections in late October, with MKs earlier this week approving laws restoring the Chief Rabbinate’s exclusive control over kosher certification, banning the arrest and prosecution of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers and declaring Torah study a foundational value.

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