As the Haredi sector's share in the population continues to grow in relation to the rest of Israeli society, the different values we share have come into focus. The most prominent manifestation of these values is the call to segregate women. While Haredim enforce gender segregation in most aspects of life, a majority of Israelis oppose such a move. The red lines laid out by the court for gender separation in academia, in rooms delineated for Haredi use although not in the public sphere can serve as a compass for managing the public space in the context of increasing Haredi demands for gender segregation in the public space.
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For many years, the State of Israel has made an effort to incorporate Haredim into academia to allow them to integrate into the job market, earn a living, and build a career. To make it easier for them to enter the secular academic world and its vastly different values, numerous academic tracks were established at campuses across the country.
As part of the strict gender segregation and in an effort not to deter Haredim, female lecturers were kept from teaching Haredi men. This gender segregation, which slipped into campuses' public domain and undermined equal opportunities for women lecturers, has come under intense public scrutiny, and as is usually the case, found its way to the High Court of Justice. A series of petitions were filed against segregation in an attempt to ban it outright. On the other side, petitions were submitted to extend the segregation to additional tracks.
In its ruling this week, a majority of justices ruled the Council for Higher Education can continue its gender-segregated tracks for Haredim, with a few caveats: Gender segregation can only be maintained inside classrooms but not libraries, cafeterias, or outside, meaning not in the public space. In addition, the court determined keeping women lecturers out of classrooms where men study harms them severely and is therefore prohibited.
This important, balanced, and landmark ruling is important for a few reasons: The court, which is sensitive to any blow to equality, has shown a great deal of understanding of Haredi religious values. In the face of ultra-Orthodox complaints the sector is being trampled on by the courts, the High Court has in fact shown itself as its protector.
With the understanding their integration in academia and the workplace is an important Israeli interest, the High Court was right to remove the value of equality from its considerations. Nevertheless, this willingness has limits. The court defended the character of the Israeli public space and was unwilling to risk imposing segregation beyond the four walls of a classroom and upon those who requested it.
Yet the ruling is of even greater significance than that. In recent years, we have been witness to a series of Haredi attempts to segregate women from the public space or impose segregation on buses, sidewalks, and public performances. The more the Haredi population grows and integrates into Israeli society, the more they will make such demands.
That is why the court's ruling extends beyond campus life. The court knows and even cherishes Haredi values, but it has also determined the Israeli public space cannot be managed according to those values when that would necessarily serve to deliver the kind of blow to equality gender segregation presents.
Integrating Haredim into Israeli life is an existential interest of the State of Israel. The more the Haredim study and work, the better they will be able to lift themselves out of poverty and keep Israel from slowly transforming into a third-world country. Yet according to the court, this integration cannot proceed through the erasure of the character and values of the State of Israel some ultra-Orthodox may have hoped for.
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