An Israeli inter-ministerial team to deal with the rise of polygamy in the Bedouin community and its consequences met yesterday to discuss a series of new moves to reduce polygamy in Bedouin society. The proposals will be submitted for approval by the Ministerial Committee for Bedouin Society Affairs. The meeting was held in the presence of the Director General of the Ministry for Social Equality, Meir Bing, and with the participation of dozens of representatives from government ministries working on this issue. The inter-ministerial committee is led by the Director General of the Ministry of Justice, Itamar Donenfeld.
The proposed laws are being launched following the government's efforts to implement 'law 4211' from 2018 on government policy to deal with the phenomenon of polygamy and as part of the work of the interministerial team led by the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for implementing a decision on the subject with the cooperation of all government ministries and the relevant government bodies.
Let's be clear, polygamy, in which one man has numerous wives, harms women. It is not culturally sensitive to accept it. It's criminal to not implement the laws of this country.
ā Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll (@skjask) January 14, 2020
During the discussion, it was revealed that about 7,160 (16.3%) of the total population of Muslim men in the southern district of Israel are men with children from more than one woman, that is, they are estimated to be polygamous. Also, between 2016 and 2021, 1,576 new cases of polygamous men were added, of which, approximately 1,400 are married to two women. The data also revealed that approximately 16,000 Bedouin women are currently in polygamous family units.
Among the main moves that were discussed yesterday by the team and are expected to be submitted later for the approval of the ministerial committee for the affairs of the Bedouin society was making legal aid services accessible to women from the Bedouin population in the Negev, to exercise and protect their rights. In addition, it was decided that the group will establish a joint team for the Ministry of Justice and the National Insurance Institute to examine the issue of pensions paid to polygamous families in order to reduce the economic incentives at the root of the phenomenon.
>> to strengthen personal & national security, to preserve land resources and regulate Bedouin settlement, and to fight against racketeering, polygamy, drug production & trafficking and other symptoms of anarchy in "Bedouistan."
ā Regavim (@RegavimEng) March 19, 2023
Pertaining to the proposals, Itamar Donenfeld, said: "The Ministry of Justice continues to promote the government's activity to combat polygamy, through a series of steps to implement the government's decision on the issue from 2018. The importance of the fight against polygamy is first and foremost for the women and children who are the main victims of the phenomenon and its consequences for them. Beyond that, this is an issue of national importance in everything related to upholding the law and Israeli society as a whole. Together with our many partners in the government and civil society, we are committed to this, and we will continue to work to reduce the phenomenon while providing answers in the fields of welfare, health, and education alongside neutralizing economic incentives in order to provide a holistic response to the phenomenon and prevent it."
