The Knesset has passed a law permitting gender segregation in Israeli academic institutions. At the same time, the city of Bnei Brak announced it will introduce gender-segregated sidewalks. Anyone who sees these as two separate developments is missing the larger picture. The Haredim, joined by the Haredi-nationalist wing of Religious Zionism, seek to remake the public sphere according to norms that have no origin or place in Jewish law. And if the High Court tries to stop them? Just as the coalition sought to shield Haredi draft exemptions through a Basic Law, it could one day enact yet more religious Basic Laws. Basic Law: Modesty, for example.

Partitions in synagogues, segregated weddings and celebrations, and separate beaches are nothing new. But until about three decades ago, there was no trace of gender segregation in other public spaces – even in the most extreme Haredi communities. The practice gathered force as the Haredi community grew, and especially as its political power and ability to impose religiously extreme norms on the public sphere expanded.

The shift began in the 1990s, when the Jerusalem-based........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)