The director general of the Nature Reserves and Parks Authority said during a Knesset debate that he thinks the pilot for separate bathing of men and women should be held • "Our goal is to be open to all publics"
Nahal Hakibbutzim
Photography:
Gil Eliyahu - Ginny (Archive)
The director of the Nature Reserves and Parks Authority, Shaul Goldstein, said today (Monday) during a discussion in the Knesset's Committee for the Advancement of Women that he thinks the pilot for separate bathing of men and women in nature reserves should be conducted.
"The pilot stems from requests made to us by religious Jews and from conversations with the leaders it became clear that an entire population in the State of Israel does not share in the enjoyment," Goldstein said, adding: "Our goal is to be open to all publics.
"After decades of discrimination, the public despaired and we said, 'Let's do the smallest pilot in the world.'
"This is a very proportionate pilot and a decision was made to stop it. This is in addition to other sites we wanted to pilot in the country. The general public enjoys whenever they want especially on weekends and the religious public can not enjoy almost weekends so we thought it was a proportional pilot and we think we should return." .
MK Moshe Arbel, the initiator of the debate, said at the beginning: "The purpose of the debate is gender equality.
When part of the public will not consume a product or service due to non-segregation there is discrimination, if we deny women the service we discriminate.
A true liberal fights not only for freedom of religion but also for freedom of religion.
Once we ignore the duty and do not allow some people to consume a product or service we are violating equality.
If it is not possible to allow a pilot in a small place that allows those women to bathe with the same women due to this mitzvah, this is a violation of equality.
Due to the reduction in injury, regulation can be sufficient.
The Attorney General's demand is unfounded.
We are ready to give up on this issue and determine that bathing will be for women only and without separation. "
The committee's chairman, MK Forer, said: "There is no desire here to promote the status of women but a desire to create a reality of a creeping occupation of exclusion of women in public space so that one day we will all rise and live in Tel Aviv as in Bnei Brak and Mea Shearim."
Dina Zilber, Deputy Attorney General: "We are in the middle of a discussion with all the relevant parties, it is not exhausted. The Nature Reserves and Parks Authority began examining the overall possibility for all its sites and eventually began piloting a limited number of sites. According to the Nature and Parks Authority Law There is no explicit authority to carry out separation. The pilot for us is not compatible with the Civil Administration. In Judea and Samaria there is additional complexity that needs to be required.
"The position of the Attorney General of Judea and Samaria is that there is no legal source for the pilot. Regarding Tzukim Springs, this is a pilot that will allow separate entry for women and men at separate hours. When we formulate our final position, it will be presented to the committee."