Story perspectives

Knesset Approves Gender-Segregated Graduate Programs Amid Resignations

7/21/2026

Summary

Story summary

The Knesset approved gender-segregated master’s and doctoral programs with a 52-43 vote on Thursday, causing the council to lose five members.
The amendment, sponsored by Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, prompted former CHE director-general Moshe Vigdor to resign.
Four professors wrote to Education Minister Yoav Kisch and President Isaac Herzog, calling the law unprecedented interference with academic freedom, while six Haredi women and ten academics filed a High Court petition.

History

Historical Context

Since the 1990s Haredi groups have pressed for gender-segregated bus services, prompting the Ministry of Transportation to allow voluntary segregation and the Supreme Court to reject an Israel Women’s Network petition as religiously based. By 2010 roughly fifty ‘mehadrin’ lines operated, fueling broader disputes that resurfaced in the 2024 Knesset vote on gender-segregated graduate programs.

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Story summary

The Knesset approved gender-segregated master’s and doctoral programs with a 52-43 vote on Thursday, causing the council to lose five members.
The amendment, sponsored by Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, prompted former CHE director-general Moshe Vigdor to resign.
Four professors wrote to Education Minister Yoav Kisch and President Isaac Herzog, calling the law unprecedented interference with academic freedom, while six Haredi women and ten academics filed a High Court petition.

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