Navigating Contentious Identities: Minority Women in Israeli Politics

• In Event: Democratic Backsliding

Abstract

Through a qualitative study of four women politicians in Israeli politics this paper explores how minority women navigate growing populism and democratic backsliding.

Most scholarship of women politicians from historically marginalized populations assumes the political institutions and discourse they operate in remain fixed, as in the same over time. However, this assumption is faulty given a reality of global democratic backsliding and populist politics. Little attention has been given to the changing political landscape facing women from historically marginalized communities seeking to enter and stay in political office. This paper considers the following questions; what happens to minority women in a context of populism and democratic backsliding? How do you navigate “otherness” outside of ‘normal’ politics? How do you signal you are “of the people” but do not highlight your non-hegemonic identity? Most importantly, what options are available when you do not have the option of claiming belonging [Palestinians]? I answer these questions through a qualitative case study of Israeli politics by analyzing four women Knesset members - Miri Regev of Jewish Mizrahi [Moroccan] descent, Pnina Tamano-Shata of Jewish Ethiopian descent, Merav Michaeli of Jewish Ashkenazi [European] descent, and Aida Touma-Sliman a Palestinian-Israeli. All four women served simultaneously in the Israeli Knesset since 2015, a time period of a growing ethno-nationalist and populist trajectory in politics. I argue that Jewish-Israeli women from non-hegemonic groups, like Miri Regev and Pnina Tamano-Shata, emphasize Jewish ethno-nationalist rhetoric to gain political credibility and obfuscate their “othered” identity. In comparison, Merav Michaeli who belongs to the hegemony must combat her framing as part of the elite. As a Palestinian-Israeli Knesset Member, Aida Touma-Sliman often appeals to her gender identity in order to gain a broader political platform. She is unable to utilize her ethno-national identity as that would frame her as an enemy of the state.

Author

• Noa Balf, Indiana University Bloomington