Among the pieces of legislation Orthodox parties wish to advance in the new Knesset is one that, according to its critics, threatens to impose on Israeli women a situation akin to that found in Iran or Saudi Arabia. Ruthie Blum explains that it will do nothing of the sort:

The Religious Zionism and United Torah Judaism parties are demanding that legislation be enacted to enable the separation of men and women at publicly sponsored events without its being deemed discriminatory. The purpose of the move is to prevent a repeat of a ridiculous 2019 court-ordered cancellation of a sold-out concert by the renowned ḥasidic singer Motty Steinmetz at the Afula Municipal Park.

The ruling was spurred by a “Women’s Lobby” petition challenging the separate seating that had been arranged ahead of the much-anticipated musical happening. That this was at the behest of a mainly-ḥaredi audience made no difference to its detractors. Ditto for the many other similar anti-Orthodox appeals over the years.

Contrary to the claims of disingenuous fear-mongers, the religious parties do not intend to impose gender segregation on the general public. They simply aim to allow for it among those whose interpretation and observance of certain talmudic decrees requires it. [Meanwhile, their opponents are] mum about gender segregation in the secular sector. The latest case in point is a “women only” cruise along the Yarkon River, which took place on Friday under the auspices of and advertised by the Tel Aviv municipality.

Israel will likely respond directly against Iran after yesterday’s attack, and has made known that it will calibrate its retaliation based not on the extent of the damage, but on the scale of the attack. The specifics are anyone’s guess, but Edward Luttwak has a suggestion, put forth in an article published just hours before the missile barrage: cut off Tehran’s ability to send money and arms to Shiite Arab militias.

In practice, most of this cash comes from a single source: oil. . . . In other words, the flow of dollars that sustains Israel’s enemies, and which has caused so much trouble to Western interests from the Syrian desert to the Red Sea, emanates almost entirely from the oil loaded onto tankers at the export terminal on Khark Island, a speck of land about 25 kilometers off Iran’s southern coast. Benjamin Netanyahu warned in his recent speech to the UN General Assembly that Israel’s “long arm” can reach them too. Indeed, Khark’s location in the Persian Gulf is relatively close. At 1,516 kilometers from Israel’s main airbase, it’s far closer than the Houthis’ main oil import terminal at Hodeida in Yemen—a place that was destroyed by Israeli jets in July, and attacked again [on Sunday].