Message of Solidarity with the Women of Israel

In Israel, dozens of women, led by the singer Efrat Gosh, marched dressed in the red dress from the dystopian ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. These women, who are now known as the women in red, have become one of the most powerful symbols of the fight for the judicial system as a guarantor of the rights of women and minorities in Israel.

The Israeli government is pushing to weaken the Supreme Court and limit the independence of the judiciary – a move that threatens to alter Israel’s system of checks and balances and push it towards autocracy.

The Socialist International Women (SIW) firmly believes that the independence of the judiciary is a democratic good of the first order, which is why we are following up closely the process that Israel is undergoing, in the face of a proposal for judicial reform that has mobilised a large part of the Israeli people.

SIW stands in solidarity with the women in red and with all the women in Israel who advocate for a judicial system that is a guarantor of rights and at the same time we recognise the value and democratic commitment of the dozens of women who took to the streets dressed in the red dress.

The socialist, labour and social democratic women of the world would like Israel to continue to be a democracy with a vocation for peace, equality and social justice.