Ben-Gurion sought more women in government, archived letter shows

First PM said appointing females to leadership positions was a ‘duty’ and ‘a privilege,’ hoped Israel would serve as an example of gender equality

A letter written by Israel’s first prime minister David Ben-Gurion emphasizing the need to integrate women in the nascent Israeli government was released by the IDF archives this week to mark International Women’s Day.

“I think appointing women to the government is a great privilege (and also a duty) for society, and I was greatly sorry that my party did not accept my proposal to appoint a female party member to the government,” Ben-Gurion wrote to a number of women’s organizations in March 1948, two months before he declared Jewish statehood.

“It seems to me a duty of honor, not only towards our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters who bear an equal burden with us for building the community and shaping its image, but also towards our neighbors and the wider world,” he told WIZO Women’s Union, the Women’s Federation of Hadassah and the Women’s Council.

Ben-Gurion added that the inclusion of women in government was a banner of “freedom and equality,” and signed his letter by calling on men to uphold the values of gender quality.

“This shouldn’t be a call just from women’s groups — this insistence should equally come from men’s organizations,” he said.