This week New York City Council Member Helen Rosenthal, Chair of the Committee on Women, was delighted to receive a delegation of women leaders from Israel’s Orthodox Jewish community.

The delegation, whose visit was organized by the Department of State, has been in the U.S. for two weeks and is studying leadership development for women and girls. They met with Council Member Rosenthal to learn both about her experiences as an elected woman leader, and to better understand the City Council’s efforts on behalf of New York women. Their visit also provided an important window into the lives of Israeli women today.

Council Member Rosenthal is one of eleven women who serve on the 51-member New York City Council. At the start of the visit, she explained the priorities of the Committee on Women, and highlighted some of the Committee’s accomplishments this year.

These include passage of groundbreaking anti-sexual harassment laws; the mandating of more specialized training for NYPD officers working with sexual assault victims, as well as other police department reforms; and legislation requiring the City’s Health Department to provide support for the most vulnerable pregnant New Yorkers and aggressively investigate instances of maternal mortality.

The delegation and Council Member Rosenthal found they had significant common ground — that they were both focused on the empowerment of women within society, as well as bringing to the fore challenges unique to women. As one delegation member said, “we are dealing with the same issues.”

Delegation members described the efforts of Israeli local governments and NGO’s to help women build socially-oriented businesses, integrate immigrant women into Israeli society, and work with some of the country’s most vulnerable residents, such as divorced religious women.

They also outlined how Israel’s largest worker organization is focused on providing more support for working women. This includes expanding childcare and healthcare services, as well as negotiation training for young women entering the workforce.

One focus of particular interest was advancing the rights and improving the day-to-day lives of ultra-Orthodox women in Israel. The delegation included a current head administrator of Orthodox public schools in Jerusalem, who is also an activist for ultra-Orthodox women, along with a documentary filmmaker working on a film about ultra-Orthodox women seeking to run for elected office.

The role and responsibility of government to advance women in society was raised repeatedly. The delegation spoke about progress made on applying a gender perspective to the management of municipal agencies in Israel, as well as the adoption of preferential hiring standards for women.

As an example of applying a gender perspective to local government services, they noted that women in Jerusalem have been surveyed regarding their transportation needs. This has led to the provision of safer transport options for women who work night shifts, along with better transit planning to address the needs of women who travel throughout the day at non-rush hours.

Along the same lines, Council Member Rosenthal discussed her efforts within the current City charter reform process to mandate that New York City government examine services and operations through a gender lens. Council Member Rosenthal, who previously chaired the Committee on Contracts and also was a high-ranking official in the City’s Office of Management & Budget, is also exploring how gender-based budgeting can be brought to New York.

“Today’s meeting was an honor and a pleasure,” said Council Member Rosenthal. “We found that we had so much to learn from each other, and I look forward to continued collaboration with women leaders across Israel as we build stronger and more just societies for all genders.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)