The Religious Women Party in the First Knesset Elections: Failure or Achievement?

Abstract

In January 1949, the first elections were held in the State of Israel. Two women’s parties participated: WIZO and the Zionist-religious women (the PD list) which received thousands of votes but did not pass the threshold to enter the Knesset.

The participation and failure of the PD list provoked a stir in the religious sector. This essay traces the fascinating story of the PD list – the women's motives and goals, the causes of their electoral failure, and society’s attitude towards the party. These elements are bound up with the identity of the religious woman and her status at that time, as well as the complex gender perception in the religious sector. Furthermore, the PD list serves as a starting point for a discussion of the idea of a ‘women’s party’, which is a source of debate among researchers and the public in general.

The PD list shared characteristics with women’s parties everywhere (women organizers, a lack of resources, society’s reservations, the conflict between national or party interests and gender interests, etc.). However, it also had unique characteristics. Thus, it was founded by religious women who had been excluded from the religious party list. It had a new feminine identity, but nonetheless placed the religious-Zionist idea above feminine interests, which contributed significantly to its failure. And it suffered from the inherent paradox in a religious woman’s identity, which tried to include the new but also to preserve the old. Finally, the experience of the PD list demonstrates that the presence or absence of a feminist consciousness among women plays a crucial role in the success of a women’s party.