Jerusalem, 27 July 1995
KNESSET APPROVED BILL FOR PROPER REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN CIVIL SERVICE
(Communicated by Civil Service Commission)
The Knesset plenum approved, in a second and third reading, Law Committee
Chairman Dedi Zuker's bill to amend the civil service law, which ensures
affirmative action for women in the civil service. The main points of the
law include:
1. Establishing the principle of proper representation of both men and
women in the civil service.
2. Establishing the obligation of the Civil Service Commissioner to act
for the advancement of proper representation of both men and women.
3. The Civil Service Commissioner will act with preference in tenders for
members of that sex that is not represented, in places where candidates
possess similar qualifications.
The law means that women will have preference in receiving and promotion
in any case where they possess qualifications similar to to those of men.
Today, about 60% of civil service employees are women, but their
representation at senior levels is very low.
Civil Service Commissioner Yitzhak Gal-Noor, who actively participated in
the process of drafting the legislations and set promotion of women to
senior positions as one of the objectives of the reform in the civil
service, welcomes the legislation and anticipates that within a few years
there will be a noticeable change in the human profile of the civil
service, in light of the fact that women will be given proper
representation in senior
managerial positions.