Last update - 00:00 15/10/2007
Women's groups: Livni not feminist enough to represent Israel at summit
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
Some women's rights groups are expressing disappointment with the decision for Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to lead Israel's delegation to next month's peace conference, saying among other things that she is not enough of a feminist.
The groups were also disappointed with the lack of representation of women at the summit.
The meeting in Maryland will be the first test of the implementation of a new amendment to the Knesset's law on women's equality, which states that women must receive "varied and appropriate" representation in government-appointed peace-negotiation teams.
But the feminist groups, headed by the International Women's Commission and Itakh: Women Lawyers for Social Justice, say they do not want Livni representing them. They say she is not sufficiently identified with feminist issuess. The feminists also note that Livni is not perceived to be a devout peacenik, with a firm commitment to reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. Their preference, they say, would be to see a woman like the former MK Prof. Naomi Chazan, who is both a prominent feminist and a peace activist.
"We're a little disappointed. Livni is indeed a woman, but she has not acted for peace nor for women's rights," says Sarai Aharoni, an activist at the Isha l'isha Haifa Feminist Center, who is also a member of the International Women's Commission.
"It's time Livni takes the feminist challenge more seriously and declare her commitment to the women's rights in this region, including those of Palestinian women," Aharoni said.