In 1969 Golda Meir was selected as Israel's fourth Prime Minister. The selection was one of the early cases of a woman achieving the top political position in a country. However, any attempt to take this achievement as foretelling a reality of gender-balanced cabinets is extremely misleading. In fact, Meir remained the sole woman appointed to cabinet until 1974. And women’s representation in Israel’s cabinet has only mildly increased since.
The scarcity of women in Israeli cabinets presents a sort of a riddle. Women were prominent and equal players in the pre-state era and the state-building effort. In addition, their representation in the legislative arena has dramatically increased since the late 1990s. Lately, women have served in various top positions – as President of the High Court, Speaker of Parliament and Governor of the Central Bank. Why, then, has their share in cabinet posts remained low? Why are so few women appointed and why do they get relatively less important executive portfolios? Are there specific variables in Israeli society and political environment that can help explain this phenomenon?
This paper offers preliminary answers to these questions. It opens with a brief outline of Israel's political setting. It then turns to analyse women's representation in the cabinet (the executive) in comparison to the Knesset (the legislature) and other central political positions. The findings point to a substantial increase in women's representation in the Knesset, but to only a very minor increase in the cabinet. The next section tries to resolve this enigma by providing a framework that details the various factors that affect the prospects of women for achieving a ministerial post. The paper concludes by applying the framework to the Israeli case, giving answers to the extreme under-representation of women in cabinets.
