Was it misogyny, though?

Today, Bibi came up with a new angle: He claimed that his government’s critics are guilty of misogyny. Well, at least the ones that criticize far-right-wing Minister of Settlement Orit Strock and Transportation Minister and lead Bibi cheerleader Miri Regev.

“We respect women,” he said, pointing out the criticism had come on International Women’s Day.

We’ll just ignore, for now, the Bank of Israel findings that the pay gap in Israel at the end of 2023 was among the highest in OECD, something around 30%. We’ll also ignore the fact that women’s representation in the Knesset has stalled at 25% for the past decade, and that Yair Lapid, who is being accused of demeaning women, leads the party (Yesh Atid) with the highest percentage of women members.

It’s true, Lapid could have chosen his words a bit more carefully. He suggested that the very sight of Strock was so awful he deserved a prize for peeking. Still, his meaning was clear to you as it should be to every Israeli.

Bibi, I have news for you. I am a committed feminist and I find Strock highly repulsive. She is a public figure; her very image stands for an extreme, racist, Messianic ideology that is extremely repugnant to me. The sight of her – even before she opens her mouth – can send me into fits of rage. She not only stands for ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the West Bank, as well as renewed Jewish settlement everywhere, she openly opposes hostage deals. What sits under that head scarf that I, or even middle-of-the-roader like Yair Lapid, could find to compliment? Such extremism, by its very nature, is ugly, and we should not be ashamed of calling out its offensiveness when we see it.

The same goes for Itamar Ben Gvir, by the way, and Bezalel Smotrich, despite his boyish fringe. I am not a man-hater, but I do highly dislike a very few men, and they are in my top 10.

Honestly, Bibi, your statement smacks of the patriarchal supposition that women need to be protected. Because, as you well know, anyone – male or female – who runs for office, who takes on a highly-visible government position and who, as Miri Regev is wont to do, seeks out publicity in any form, opens themselves to criticism. And those who spout hateful extremist rubbish deserve to have our criticism heaped on their heads, no matter how those heads are coifed.

I suspect, however, that your accusation of misogyny was not the weak grasping at straws it seemed to be, but more of a cigar-like smoke-screen. Because, of course, your party is going after another strong woman, and you are not holding back – not on the virulence of your public attacks and not on the knives.

I am referring, of course, to Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara. On International Women’s Day, the news reported renewed efforts to fire her before her term is up and replace her with someone more amenable to dropping all the felony charges against Bibi.

Despite her slight figure and pouf of blond hair, Bahara Miara has not been afforded your protection, nor anyone else’s. And yet she has managed to hold her own, including against misogynist attacks from coalition members that ran to signs portraying her as a seamstress “sewing up” a false case against Bibi.

And as long we are bringing up women’s causes, here are the things I do find misogynist: the continued presence in the Knesset of parties that prevent women from holding seats; the nods to those same parties in allowing separation by gender in public spaces and granting anti-female rabbis the right to make decisions on women’s lives; the delays in passing laws that would protect women and improve their status.

Bibi, I won’t lie. There are women in your government who set my teeth on edge. That is not a misogynist statement. I would be happy to supply you with a list of 50 women I would love to see sitting in your seat, right now. I am talking about women who understand the job comes with criticism, who would cut the whining and get on with their work. And if they do it with honor, they’ll get my respect. But please, don’t expect me to withhold criticism from a public figure, just because she is a woman.