The Anti-Israel Mob Never Mentions Women’s Rights in Israel — Compared to the Middle East

In parts of the Middle East, women still live in deeply patriarchal, often brutal systems. Changes exist more on paper than in practice. Power remains in the hands of men, religious systems, and political elites — and this repressive treatment often goes unchallenged.

This happens in places like Gaza under Hamas, in Afghanistan under the Taliban, in Iran under the ayatollahs, and even in Saudi Arabia, where “reforms” like women driving made headlines in 2018.

Let’s be clear: not every Muslim-majority country treats women this way. In places like Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey, many women work, study, and participate in public life. But even there, legal protections and personal freedoms often lag behind. And in the four examples mentioned — Gaza, Iran, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia — women face severe, institutionalized oppression. These are not fringe cases; they reflect the governing ideologies of millions.

Now contrast that with Israel.

In Israel, the only liberal democracy in the region, both Jewish and Arab women live with rights and freedoms unheard of in most of the Middle East.

In Israel, women:

• Vote and run for office
• Serve as Supreme Court judges, ministers, professors, doctors, and CEOs
• Join the military, even in combat roles
• Protest publicly without fear of being shot or jailed
• Choose how to dress, where to work, whom to marry, and what to believe
• File police reports and expect legal protection

Women in Israel are not just present, they lead. They command battalions, fly fighter jets, debate in the Knesset, run start-ups, and shape policy. Gender equality is not perfect — no country is — but legally, all women are fully protected.

And this is the part that’s almost never said: Arab women in Israel also enjoy more rights than in any Arab country. They study in top universities, vote freely, become doctors, lawyers, and leaders. Yes, some face traditional cultural pressures in their communities, but under Israeli law, they are citizens with equal rights, and legal recourse when those rights are violated.

Can the same be said for women in Gaza, ruled by Hamas? For women under the Taliban in Afghanistan? Or for the brave Iranian women imprisoned for removing their headscarves?

If you are a self-respecting feminist in the West, this should be a moral line: Israel is the only place in the Middle East where women are truly free. In Tel Aviv, if a woman is raped, she can go to the police. She’ll be heard, investigated, supported.

In Tehran, she might be blamed. In Riyadh, she could be imprisoned. In Kabul, she might be killed. In Gaza, she might be forced to marry her rapist.

So ask yourself: if you support women’s rights, why are you aligning with regimes or movements that strip women of their humanity?

Something is deeply broken when women in free societies chant slogans for groups that would silence, veil, and imprison them. When feminists march with Palestinian flags, are they aware that under Hamas, there is no LGBTQ+ freedom, no feminist activism, no legal protections for women?

You don’t have to support every policy of the Israeli government to recognize this truth: Israel is the only country in the Middle East where a woman can live as a full, free citizen.

Western feminists need to wake up. When you champion groups like Hamas or regimes like Iran “for the cause,” you are betraying the very values you claim to fight for.

Until that realization comes, I ask just one thing: If you truly care about women, why on earth are you standing against Israel?

Sabine Sterk is the CEO of Time To Stand Up For Israel. 

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