Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked responded on Friday to remarks by religious Zionist Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, who told Israel Radio on Thursday that no woman should ever serve as head of a political party in Israel, regardless of how observant she is.
"Even if it was a religious woman, it wouldn't be OK. The complicated vortex of politics is not the arena for the role of women," Aviner said.
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Shaked, who is currently vacationing in Canada with her family, responded on Twitter, saying she "just wanted to remind everyone" that women can do everything – including "serve as party leader, mayor, company CEO and even prime minister."
Meanwhile, the religious Zionist party Habayit Hayehudi is saying that women play an "important role" in political activity.
On Thursday afternoon, Habayit Hayehudi released a statement on the status of women in its ranks, claiming that "Habayit Hayehudi is the first party that put together a major women's forum and fosters women as leaders, and some 45% of Habayit Hayehudi members are women."
"In addition, the party has places reserved on its list for women to promote appropriate representation [of women] in the Knesset. … We believe that women have an important place in Israeli activity," the party statement read.
Aviner is a signatory to a petition circulated in the national-religious camp against Shaked being appointed head of the United Right. Although the petition makes does not explicitly mention Shaked by name, it reads, "We support [United Right leader] Rabbi Rafi Peretz's position that a God-fearing Jew who observes Torah and mitzvot must be at the head of the national religious party."
