On June 7, Prof. Uriya Shavit, the Head of the Institute, discussed the history of the struggle over women’s right to vote in the early days of the Zionist community in Mandatory Palestine and how ultra-Orthodox opposition to universal suffrage was defeated. Prof. Shavit also discussed the complicated legacy of Golda Meir, the first woman to serve as prime minister in a Western democracy, including with regard to gender rights.

Following the lecture, Prof. Shavit took the fellows to Golda Meir’s historic residence in Ramat Aviv, located a few hundred meters from the TAU campus. They then went to visit the historic homes of former prime ministers Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin, also located close to campus, and discussed one of the most curious rivalries in Israeli politics, as well as the circumstances that led to Rabin’s assassination by a Jewish militant in 1995. On the way, the Fellows stopped by Ramat Aviv’s iconic Gigi’s General Store, where, over the course of forty years, its ultra-Orthodox owner established himself as a fixture in one of Israel’s most secular neighborhoods. There, the Fellows asked him about his business, his history in the neighborhood and about religious and secular issues in Israel.