Haredi women, academics file petition with High Court against gender-segregated education law

A legal challenge has been mounted against a new Israeli law that expands gender-segregated studies in higher education. Six Haredi women and ten academics filed a petition with the High Court of Justice, arguing that the legislation dismantles crucial safeguards previously found constitutional.

The petition was submitted shortly after the Knesset approved an amendment, sponsored by Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech. This amendment explicitly permits the Council for Higher Education to approve separate male and female programs across bachelor's, master's, and doctoral studies. For institutions that otherwise teach mixed genders, the law limits segregation to classrooms. However, this restriction does not apply to institutions exclusively for men or women. The amendment also states that operating separate programs for religious reasons will not be considered discrimination.

The petitioners are urging the court to invalidate the amendment entirely or, alternatively, to rule that it does not supersede the restrictions set by the High Court's 2021 decision. That ruling had permitted gender-segregated academic programs only as a narrow exception for Haredi students, limited to bachelor's degrees and within classrooms, while prohibiting the exclusion of female lecturers.

In 2021, all five justices on the panel acknowledged that gender segregation infringed the constitutional right to equality. A majority upheld the Council for Higher Education's framework, deeming it proportionate only due to its restrictions: it applied solely to Haredi students, was limited to bachelor's degrees as an "entry gate" to higher education, and confined segregation to classrooms, not public campus areas. The court also unanimously ruled that women lecturers could not be barred from teaching male students and warned that deviations from these "delicate balances" could lead to illegality.

The current petition, led by Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law Prof. Yofi Tirosh, asserts that the Knesset has expanded the model without addressing longstanding violations of the original restrictions. It accuses the Council for Higher Education of failing to prevent segregation in libraries, corridors, administrative services, and other public spaces. The petition also claims the council allowed institutions to offer different programs to men and women and failed to enforce the court's prohibition on excluding women lecturers from men's classes. The central constitutional argument is that the amendment expressly authorizes an infringement of equal rights.