Michal Cafrey
Posted on | December 1, 2008 | No Comments
Lawyer and Senior Advisor to Ministers in the Knesset
I am Israeli, a right-winger, and a feminist. I am not for the building of the Wall, I think Jews and Arabs should co-exist. I don’t see an end or solution right now, but I know my policies. Menachem Begin, a right-wing president, brokered the first peace treaty with an Arab country, Egypt, and it continues to this day. Maybe it’s a cold peace, but it’s a peace for 30 years.
Politics can be used for good?
You can have huge influence in politics, but you must be experienced and have an agenda over years. I have my agenda and I stick to it, I don’t need anyone else’s assurance. I used to be one of the few right-wingers in gender issues, but there is a correlation between being a politician and being a feminist. I was a lonely voice for years.
The past 15 years you see more right-wing women in the feminist agenda because in the religious population—mid-Orthodox, not Ultra Orthodox—there is a feminist revolution for higher studies for women and becoming scholars of the Torah.
When world peace comes, it will be mainly done by women. It’s important to invest in women and girls of all backgrounds. Women run things differently; we are less influenced by hierarchy. Give us a chance to run things our way, come back in 50 or 100 years. It will be a better place to live.
A place where Jews and Arabs co-exist?
I am a seventh generation Israeli. Israel is my homeland. I see Israel as a Jewish state with an Arab minority entitled to all its rights, as promised in our Declaration of Independence. I am for a civil and military service for Arab young people. It would be fantastic for Arab girls. It would give them independence and raise their age of marriage.
Tell us about your background identity as a Likud feminist.
I grew up in a pro-Likud house. My father was a member of the underground resistance leading to Israel’s creation. My background has given me a certain toughness; I don’t need anyone else’s assurance. I was also lucky in that my home environment was empowering. My mother always worked. My father was a businessman. My mother was never expected to serve anyone. When we had gatherings in our house, I never used to go off to the women’s corner. I liked to stay with the men and talk politics with them. I’d then turn the conversation and would talk about feminism, whether they’d like it or not.
Tell us about your work and achievements.
I have been a member of the board of Israeli Women’s Network for many years and used to be one of the few right-wingers involved on gender issues, which is traditionally considered a left wing platform. When I became the senior advisor to the Minister of Telecommunications, I had a free hand to use her name and power to work within the system to make change.
I set up a committee to check for gender stereotypes within Israeli textbooks. We were clever enough to include some men as well. The minister had my suggestions implemented.
I also made sure to appoint women to high positions. We tripled the budget for gender issues at the office. The Minister appointed a woman as Director General of the Council for Higher Studies in Israel. We pressed for women to be nominated for Paz Israel, the highest prize for scholars and academics. I did a whole revolution in women’s sports in Israel. We allocated 80 million shekels for women’s sports programs and established a public council for advancing women in sports. The sky was the limit.
Do you feel secure?
Yes, but just before September 11, a suicide bomber blew himself up behind my car. Pieces of him fell on me. My car had nail holes in it. If one had hit me in the head, I wouldn’t be here. It didn’t weaken my feeling that this is my country, my place. When my family came here from Germany in 1847, it was Palestine, so I also belong to Palestine. And as a feminist, it makes me angry that someone can think that doing this will get him 72 virgins in heaven.
As a woman, I fear harassment and rape, the things women are increasingly vulnerable to. But in general, my daily life is secure enough. Most of the people I know want peace, are dreaming of peace, and are yearning for peace. It is something that is with us, at the back of our minds.
At the same time, all the families have a certain political agenda, a political way of looking at the world. I don’t think peace will be achieved in my lifetime—perhaps my children will see it. Peace is very complex in the Middle East. The world is becoming increasingly extreme. Part of the problem isn’t the territorial dispute; it’s the religious dispute as well. We live in a very complicated area.
While the Israelis intelligentsia is always for dialogue and negotiation, intellectuals, writers, and media on the Arab side are so anti-Israeli. Also, people in surrounding areas may be of one religion but they are fighting among themselves.
You don’t agree with the Wall?
It reminds me of the Berlin Wall, and gives me a horrible feeling of being in a ghetto. It was made to reduce suicide attacks and arms smuggling, but Arabs and Jews have to live here. It puts up something solid that will take generations to bring down. I am a right-winger against the building of the wall.
And I am against dividing Jerusalem. Jerusalem should stand as a single united city, and I am aware how it looks outside the country, but that is not my main problem. The majority of Israelis believe most of the world is not pro-Israeli. It’s something we grow up with. Judaism isn’t the most popular religion in the world.
What is your message to the world?
Women are the best ambassadors for a realistic peace. The world needs to give us the chances we deserve in a larger field of action, a world where women’s unique and special voices will be heard.
A self-described right-wing feminist, Cafri is a seventh-generation Israeli whose family emigrated from Germany to Jerusalem in 1847. A member of the Likud party, she was Senior Advisor to the Minister of Education, Culture, and Sports from 2001 to 2006 and to the Minister for Telecommunication from 1996 to 1999. Cafri, who works with a Jerusalem law firm, has been involved in gender issues through her adult life.
