Debate in the Knesset on an Amendment Proposal to the Income Tax Ordinance, 1949

Abstract

In 1949 an amendment to the tax law was published and a special reference was made to women and their status in order to calculate a family unit’s income tax. It was an important amendment, not because of the financial and legal implications for women, but because of the legislative process that had created it. The issue revolved around women’s status in Israeli society. Should women be considered a separate factor in tax calculation or merely an appendix of their partner?

The Knesset debate was over essential social and gender issues. The female Knesset members who objected to the proposal placed the issue of women’s image on the agenda of the fledgling state. Their reservations over the law on women’s taxation status reflected their view of women as active participants in all areas of nation building. Women’s partnership in income tax payment was not to be considered an annoyance, but rather a civil duty that strengthened the nation. Women demanded an equal role in sharing the burden and recognition as having national duties as well as national liberties. This claim had been voiced by female pioneers since the Second Aliya, a claim for equal duties as well as rights.