The Convention and Israel
The Convention
The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is the first international human rights treaty devoted to the rights of women. According to the Convention, discrimination against women represents a violation of the principles of equality and human dignity, and is considered an obstacle to the participation of women, on an equal footing with men, in the political, social, economic and cultural life of their country; impedes the development and prosperity of society and the family; and increases the difficulty of achieving the complete development of women's capacity. The Convention obliges all State Parties to take appropriate measures, legislative and non-legislative, to prohibit all forms of discrimination against women.
Israel is a State Party to CEDAW, which it ratified in October 1991. Upon ratification, Israel entered substantive and procedural reservations to the Convention, in particular to Article 7(b), which concerns the appointment of women to serve as judges of religious courts and Article 16, which concerns personal status.
Although ratified by Israel, the provisions of the CEDAW are not formally incorporated into Israeli domestic law. The provisions of the Convention are not binding on Israel’s national courts, although they do serve as benchmarks and guidelines which domestic law cannot contradict. Under Israeli domestic law, incorporation occurs only when the Israeli legislature (the Knesset) passes a specific act or acts to that effect.
Full Text of the Convention
State Parties to the Convention
General Recommendations to the Convention
Israel’s Periodic Country Reports on its Implementation of the CEDAW
Fourth Report, 2005
Third Report, 2001
Initial and Second Report, 1997
The Optional Protocol to the Convention
Israel has not signed or ratified the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW, which entered into force in 2000. As a result, individual women or groups of women may not submit claims of violations of rights protected under the Convention, nor may the Committee initiate inquires into situations of grave or systematic violations of women’s rights.
Signatures to and Ratifications of the Protocol
The Working Group on the Status of Palestinian Women Citizens of Israel
Adalah is a member organization of the Working Group on the Status of Palestinian Women Citizens of Israel. The Working Group is a national network of Palestinian women’s rights and human rights NGOs working on Palestinian women’s rights issues from various perspectives and fields of expertise.
CEDAW, 2005
The Working Group submitted a preliminary NGO Alternative Report to the Committee’s pre-sessional task force in January 2005 The Report in Full | Summary
Adalah contributed short chapters to this report on Israel's implementation of Articles 1 and 2 (Discrimination and Obligations to Eliminate Discrimination), 4 (Acceleration of Equality Between Men and Women), 9 (Nationality) and 10 (Education) of the CEDAW.
In January 2005, the Committee’s pre-sessional task force also considered a further NGO Alternative Report on the Position of Palestinian Women in the 1967 Occupied Palestinian Territories.
In February 2005, following its initial review of Israel’s Third Periodic Country Report, submitted to the Committee in 2001, and the NGO Alternative Reports, the Committee produced its List of Issues and Questions for Israel. See the following press release by the Working Group for more information:
UN Committee Poses 18 Questions to Israel Regarding Discrimination Against Palestinian Women Citizens of Israel, for Urgent Response -
6 April 2005
On 9 April 2005, the Working Group held a highly successful Study Day, attended by over 200 people, where the Group presented its NGO Alternative Report, promoted the CEDAW as an international mechanism to help secure rights for Palestinian women in Israel, and gathered information from resource experts on the position of Palestinian women citizens of Israel in all fields of life.
In May 2005, the Working Group submitted an NGO Alternative Report in response to the ‘List of Issues and Questions with Regard to the Consideration of Periodic Reports’ on Israel’s implementation of the CEDAW.
Adalah responded to Question 2 (Constitution, Legislation and National Machinery for the Advancement of Women), Question 13 (Participation in Public Life and Decision-Making), and Questions 21 and 24 (Health), as well as submitted a “Proposed Concluding Observation” regarding Article 9 (Nationality) of the CEDAW, focused on Israel’s discriminatory family unification policies.
In May 2005, a further NGO Alternative Report in Response to the ‘List of Issues and Questions with Regard to the Consideration of Periodic Reports’ was submitted on Israel’s implementation of the CEDAW in the 1967 Occupied Palestinian Territories.
In May 2005, Israel submitted its own Responses to the List of Issues and Questions to the Committee.
On 6 July, the CEDAW Committee held its review of Israel’s compliance with the Convention during its 33rd Session, 5 – 22 July 2005. A four-member delegation from the Working Group on the Status of Palestinian Women Citizens of Israel attended the review session. The delegates presented the Working Group’s report and lobbied Committee members. See the following press release by the Working Group for more information:
UN CEDAW Reviews Israel: Committee Experts Voice Concern over Inequalities and the Need for Measures to Eliminate Discrimination against Palestinian Women Citizens of Israel in Education, Employment and Political Life
27 July 2005
At an official NGO meeting held during the 33rd Session, the delegates of the Working Group also delivered written statements to CEDAW representatives on the main issues raised in their report.
During the CEDAW Committee’s 33rd Session, Israel submitted its 4th Periodic Country Report on the CEDAW. On 6 July, Dr. Shavit Matias, Deputy Attorney General of Israel, delivered Israel’s statement before the CEDAW Committee.
On 22 July 2005, the CEDAW Committee issued its Concluding Comments on Israel’s implementation of the CEDAW Convention. The Committee emphasized 14 areas of concern and recommendations regarding Israel’s violation of the basic rights of Palestinian women citizens of Israel and Palestinian women living in the OPTs, as safeguarded under the CEDAW. Many of the issues highlighted by the WG in its reports were reflected in the Committee’s Concluding Comments. See the following press release by the Working Group for more information:
UN CEDAW Issues Concluding Observations on Israel, Emphasizing 14 Areas of Concern Regarding Israeli Violations of Rights of Palestinian Women
8 August 2005
CEDAW, 1997
The Working Group submitted an NGO Alternative Report to the Committee (Part 1 | Part 2) in July 1997.
At that time, the Committee reviewed Israel’s Initial and Second Combined Periodic Country Report.
Concluding Comments of the CEDAW Committee on Israel - 1997
The Members of the Working Group on the Status of Palestinian Women in Israel
