Haaretz Podcast

Netanyahu and Trump's 'creeping authoritarianism': 'It always begins and ends with women'

Dec 4, 2024

Dahlia Lithwick, an award-winning journalist at Slate, and Yofi Tirosh, a prominent civil rights activist and law professor, delve into the urgent challenges facing women's rights in both Israel and the U.S. They discuss how authoritarian regimes target women first, revealing the unsettling connection between gender equality and democracy. Topics include the impact of Ezek el’s judicial overhaul and America’s Dobbs decision, political fatigue's role in activism, and the overarching theme of resilience against rising extremism. Their insights offer a powerful look at the struggle for women's autonomy.

43:10

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Episode guests

Dahlia Lithwick

Yofi Tirosh

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

The erosion of women's rights in Israel and the U.S. is a reflection of broader authoritarian political movements targeting gender equality.

Activism for women's rights is struggling against political fatigue and systemic inequities, highlighting the need for solidarity across borders.

Deep dives

Gender Gap in Political Reactions

The election of Donald Trump in the U.S. highlighted a significant gender gap in the reactions of individuals with liberal ideologies. Women and girls expressed visible distress and depression compared to men, who, while disappointed, appeared less affected by the political landscape. This disparity mirrors sentiments in Israel, where the election of the far-right and religious Netanyahu government elicited similar fears among women regarding their rights and safety. In both contexts, women face a unique struggle against systematic attacks on their freedoms, compelling a need for solidarity and shared insights between them.

Intro

2min

Women and Resilience in Turbulent Times

7min

Exploring the Challenges of Women's Representation in Leadership

2min

Gender Politics: Israel and the U.S. in Focus

15min

The Erosion of Reproductive Rights and Gender Equality

4min

Women’s Rights and Rising Authoritarianism

13min

In both Israel and the United States, women's rights and their autonomy are under attack from the surging power of far-right religious political forces in the current Netanyahu government and future Trump White House.

In Israel, the “creeping theocracy” is out in the open and the debate is in the public square, while in the U.S. there is less of an understanding that “disassembling American constitutional democracy is part of a theological effort,” said Dahlia Lithwick, a journalist at Slate and host of the award-winning Amicus podcast.

Lithwick and Tel Aviv University law professor and civil rights activist Dr. Yofi Tirosh joined Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer to unpack, compare and contrast the erosion of women’s rights and its impact on democracy in the two countries. They discussed how gender equality is the linchpin of civil society, why authoritarian regimes target women first, how political fatigue is undermining activism, and compared America’s conflict over abortion to Israel’s fights surrounding gender segregation.

From the ramifications of Israel’s judicial overhaul to America’s Dobbs decision that stripped women of reproductive rights, the two women connected the dots on how both countries are grappling with creeping theocracy and the normalization of extremism.

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