Israel will not finally join the Istanbul Convention on violence against women

While Binyamin Netanyahu is due to announce the composition of his government on Thursday, December 29, after the victory of the right-wing coalition in Israel in the November 1, 2022 elections, an agreement between Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud (right) and the religious Zionist party (extreme -right) by Bezalel Smotrich, unveiled by

, stipulates that the new Israeli government will not sign the Istanbul convention.

This treaty on the fight against sexist and sexual violence against women and drawn up in 2011 under the aegis of the Council of Europe obliges the States that have signed and ratified it to take legislative measures to suppress domestic violence against women and similar abuses, including marital rape and female genital mutilation.

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In January 2022, the Israeli government then led by Naftali Benett, made a formal request to become a full member of the Istanbul Convention, a request accepted in April 2022 by the Council of Europe, although Israel is not than an observer member of this institution.

But the signing and ratification of the treaty by the Knesset had been postponed several times under pressure from the right, the Israeli far right and because of the reservations of certain ministers who saw in this treaty a threat to the sovereignty of Israel. Israel on Migration and Gender Issues.

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Withdrawal of Turkey in 2021 from the Convention

Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the religious Zionist party (far right) is said to have convinced Benyamin Netanyahu, by claiming that the Istanbul Convention could jeopardize immigration control in Israel.

Bezalel Smotrich was particularly concerned about the clause of the Convention which offers political asylum to victims of domestic violence.

Israel could therefore have become the 46th state to sign the treaty.

Of the forty-five current signatory states to the Istanbul Convention, only seven states have not ratified it - Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Armenia.

In the absence of ratification, the Convention is still not officially applied in these countries.

Finally, it should be noted that Turkey, which had signed and ratified the Istanbul Convention, withdrew from the treaty in March 2021. Turkey had justified its decision by explaining that the Convention had been hijacked by "

,” which made the treaty “incompatible” with the country's social and family values.

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