Scroll down for five recent articles by and about the Hadassah Foundation’s Israeli and U.S.-based grantees. Please note that the Hadassah Foundation does not endorse every view expressed in the articles below.
5050 Initiative Looks to Reverse Decline of Women in the Knesset
Hadassah Magazine, May-June 2026
We’re always excited when our grant recipients are not just quoted in an article, but are the focus of it. Here, our friends at Hadassah Magazine describe how the 5050 Initiative is pushing political parties to adopt “zipper lists,” in which male and female candidates alternate down the ticket. “For us, the work is not only about gender equality,” 5050 Founder and Executive Director Yael Yechieli said. “It is about building a healthier democracy and better decision-making at a moment when Israel needs it most.”
A Core Israel grant recipient, the 5050 Initiative presses Israel’s political parties to commit to forming candidate lists that are gender-balanced, with women equally represented at all levels.
Defaced billboard in Kiryat Ono, a suburb of Tel Aviv.
Pushed Out and Pushing Back: Everyday Sexism
Times of Israel, May 6
Billboards vandalized to cover the faces of women. Women soldiers court martialed for “immodest dress” and excluded from their bases. Anti-discrimination laws brazenly violated. In this opinion piece, Elana Sztokman of Israel Women’s Network documents Israel’s growing problem of gender segregation and what IWN and other civil society organizations are doing to fight back.
A Visionary grant recipient, Israel Women’s Network (IWN) promotes gender equality in the workplace, in public spaces, and in government allocations of resources.
Women taking the Chief Rabbinate’s exams on April 27, 2026. (Courtesy of Itim)
Despite Obstructions, Israeli Women Sit for Rabbinate Exams in a Historic First
Religion News Service, April 30
Thanks to the tenacity of three Israeli organizations, including the Rackman Center for the Advancement of Women, women finally had the opportunity to take the Chief Rabbinate’s competency exams. Three women took the exams following a landmark High Court ruling and various efforts by the Chief Rabbinate to avoid compliance, including forcing women to take the exams at a different location from men and then delaying administering the test for hours — necessitating last-minute litigation. The article also mentions Yeshivat Maharat, noting that it is one of several Orthodox institutions “devoted to providing women religious educational opportunities.”
A Core Israel grant recipient, the Rackman Center promotes the status and rights of women in matters of family law and works to end gender discrimination and inequality in Israel through advocacy and legislative change. A Core U.S. grant recipient, Yeshivat Maharat is the first Orthodox institution to ordain women rabbis.
Jewish Women International Seeks to Turn Post-Oct. 7 Antisemitism Into Change
Washington Jewish Week, April 28
This article reports on Jewish Women International‘s recent survey of young U.S. Jewish women in the post-October 7 world. “Based on our findings, young Jewish women feel disenfranchised in the workplace, ostracized in social circles, and compelled to erase their Jewish identities for fear of personal safety,” JWI CEO Merdith Jacobs said, adding that JWI intends to “create the needed responses and supports to meet [young Jewish women’s] needs.”
A Visionary grant recipient, Jewish Women International works to empower women and girls – of every race, culture, ability, gender identity, and sexual orientation – by ensuring and protecting their safety, building access to long-term economic security, and lifting and mentoring women leaders.
My Family and Friends Questioned Why I Wanted to Visit Israel. That’s Why I Wanted to Go.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, April 9
In this essay, a non-Jewish New York University journalism student describes why she toured Israel with Fuente Latina. “If anything, it is both a journalistic responsibility and part of the job to report on a country firsthand and hear directly from people living through history,” she writes. “This is especially true now, as Jews on campus and in cities around the world face isolation, boycotts, and attacks at levels not seen in decades. Too often, opinions are shaped on social media by people with no direct connection to these places, who have never visited them or spoken to the people they write about.”
A Core U.S. grant recipient, Fuente Latina engages and educates non-Jewish Hispanics worldwide about the Jewish world and Israel through mainstream Spanish-language legacy news (TV, radio, print) and digital/social media.