This article is taken from: “Women in Israel: Compendium of Data and Information 2002”, The Israel Women’s Network, 2003

The data in the article is based on: D. Izraeli and R. Hillel, Women’s Representation in Directorates of Government Companies - Changing Trends, 1993-1997-2000, Bar Ilan University, 2000 (Hebrew).

Amendment No. 6 (Appointments) to the Government Companies Law-1993 adopted in 1993 mandates ‘due representation’ of both sexes in the composition of government company directorates. In a 1994 precedent ruling following a petition to the High Court of Justice , the Court ruled that substantive and real equality could only be achieved through affirmative action. The ruling fortified the Government Companies Law which determines, as stated, that the composition of directorates shall reflect due representation of both sexes, and that, until that time, ministers will appoint directors of the sex which is not duly represented, to the extent that the circumstances allow for such appointments.

The data collected by Izraeli and Hillel shows that the share of women directors in government companies was 7.4% in 1993, 28.04% in 1997, and 37.8% in 2000. According to monitoring data of the Government Companies Authority in the Prime Minister’s Office, from June 2002, the share of women directors was 33.5% in 2002.

Data of women’s representation in directorates of government companies from 1993 through June 2002 reveals a trend of increased women’s representation from 1993, crossing the 30% line in 2000 - the rate determined as a measure of due representation . A decline in the representation rate of women directors was recorded in 2002, however the rate remained above the 30% level. Arab women suffer from considerable under-representation - only 0.64%, whereas the rate for Arab men stands at 4.01%.

Directorates of government companies are comprised of civil service employees, representatives of the public, government company employees and employees of the parent company. The majority of women directorate-members are public representatives (68.9%), reflecting low representation of female civil service employees. The lowest representation is found among women employed in government companies (2.4%). This finding is surprising as there are many educated and talented women in these companies, one of the factors substantiating adoption of the affirmative action clause.

Changes in women’s representation in government company Directorates in 1993-1997-2000 are:

• In 16 companies (14%) there are no women directors; in 4 of these companies (3.5%) women never served as directorate members and in 12 of the companies (10%) women served as directors in the past.
• In 8 companies (7%) women directors were appointed in 2000 for the first time since 1993.
• In 37 companies (32%) the share of women directors is on the rise (in 17 of the companies the increase resulted from a cutback in the number of board members).
• In 26 companies (23%) women’s representation in directorates declined in 2000.
• In 2000, thirty-eight of the 155 companies (33%) had not yet implemented due representation of women. In 1997 the number stood at 58.6%, denoting a growing trend towards due representation of women.

In summary, despite the Amendment to the Law, due representation of women in all directorates has not been achieved yet. Women’s representation is increasing, however a decline has been noted recently in approximately 25% of the companies.

The Government Companies Authority is also responsible for eighty government corporations. Only 96 (29.4%) of the 327 board members in these government corporations are women - low representation compared to government companies. The share of Arab women is similar (0.61%). In contrast to government companies in which the highest representation of women in directorates is found among public representatives, the highest representation of women in government corporations is that of civil service employees (56.1% of the directors), whereas female representatives of the public account for only 40.1% of female directors.