Israeli city set to implement gender-segregated streets

Municipality officials said the initiative has been under consideration for several years and indicated the arrangement could be extended to other streets in the future.

Chasidic Jews walking in Bnei Brak, November 21, 2024 (Credit: Michael Giladi/Flash90)[Missing Credit]

Supporters of the plan say it reflects the values of the predominantly Charedi community, while critics and legal observers argue that gender segregation in public spaces exceeds the authority of local governments and violates the principle of equality under Israeli law.

Yael Yechieli, director of the 5050 Initiative, which advocates for gender equality in Israel, criticised the plan, saying that “religious leaders want to exclude women from everywhere, and if we don’t stop them, it will continue.”

The proposal also revives a legal debate that has previously reached Israel's highest court. In 2017, the Supreme Court ordered the removal of signs in the largely Chasidic city of Beit Shemesh that instructed men and women to walk on opposite sides of the street, ruling against the practice in public areas.

Bnei Brak has previously seen limited examples of gender-separated pedestrian routes in neighbourhoods such as Kiryat Vizhnitz, but the new plan would mark the first time the policy has been formally adopted by a municipality on major city streets.