The Women's Party () was a minor

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Background

The party was established prior to the

1977 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1977. Africa * 1977 Afars and Issas Constituent Assembly election * 1977 Algerian legislative election * 1977 Gambian general election * 1976–1977 Guinea-Bissau legislative election * 1977 Malagasy ...

, with the founders including Israeli-American Marcia Freedman.Marcia Freedman: Public Activities
Knesset website Freedman had been an MK for Ratz in the

eighth Knesset Legislative elections were held in Israel on 31 December 1973. Voter turnout was 79%.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I'', p125 The election was postponed for two months because ...

, but had broken away with

Aryeh Eliav Aryeh "Lova" Eliav (; 21 November 1921 – 30 May 2010) was an Israeli politician, author, intellectual and peace and social activist. He served as a member of the Knesset for several factions in three spells between 1965 and 1992. Biography ...

to form the

Independent Socialist Faction The Independent Socialist Faction (, ''Sia'a Sotzialistit Atzma'it'') was a political party in Israel in the 1970s. Background The party was established on 27 January 1976, during the eighth Knesset, as the Social-Democratic Faction, when Ary ...

. Whilst the ISP chose to merge with several other small

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

parties ( Meri,

Moked Moked () was a left-wing political party in Israel. Background Moked came into existence on 25 July 1973 during the seventh Knesset, when the Maki parliamentary group (which had one seat, held by Shmuel Mikunis) was renamed Moked, following i ...

and some

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California ...

) to form the

Left Camp of Israel The Left Camp of Israel (, ''Maḥaneh Smol LeYisrael'') was a left-wing political party in Israel. It was also known as Sheli (), an abbreviation for "Peace for Israel" (, ''Shalom LeYisrael''). Background The party was formed prior to the 1977 ...

, Freedman decided to set up a new

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

party to fight the election. However, the new party won only 5,674 votes and failed to cross the

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

of 1%, subsequently disappearing. Freedman turned her attentions to charity, helping to found the women's centre ''Kol HaIsha'' (''Voice of the Woman'') in 1979, and returned to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1981. In the 1992 Knesset elections the Women's Party received 2,886 votes (0.1%).

References

Political parties established in 1977 Defunct political parties in Israel Feminist political parties in Israel {{Israel-party-stub