On Sunday, April 26, Irwin Cotler Fellows explored aspects of the struggle for gender equality in Israeli politics and diplomacy. The day began with a lecture by Foreign Ministry official Hagit Ben Yaacov, former Israeli ambassador to Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Estonia. Ben Yaakov shared her inspiring life story that brought her from a humble background in Israel’s periphery to top diplomatic missions. She discussed the unique challenges women diplomats have faced, and still do, in Israel and other countries, what changed and what did not. She also discussed how she dealt with post-October 7 realities in Helsinki.

Following her lecture, the fellows went to Golda Meir’s historic residence in Ramat Aviv, located a few hundred meters from the TAU campus. Together with Prof. Uriya Shavit they 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. They 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. Noting that history is often in front of our eyes and overlooked, they then went to visit the historic homes of former prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, 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.