Masculinity, Military and Society: The Silenced History of Male Sexual Assaults in Israel

Nissim Avissar

Male sexual assaults have occurred throughout human history, in different cultures. Yet, this phenomenon has been silenced and the public and academic discourse around it is relatively new. The bulk of the research and professional writings on this matter dates from the 1990s and later. In Israel, professional research and writing about male sexual assault victims remain rare but have appeared sporadically in the past few years. Understanding the scope and characteristics of this phenomenon, particularly the public attitude towards it, requires exploring the broader context of its socio-cultural environment. The present article investigates male sexual assaults throughout the changing Israeli context over the history of the State of Israel – within the gender, military, and national circles. 
    The analysis will be based on three theoretical axes and will combine them: gender, military-militaristic and collective-national. The first, the gender, refers to perceptions of masculinity and the changes that took place in the period in question. The second, the militaristic, focuses on the relations between the army and society in Israel and the changes that have taken place in the place of the army in Israeli society (and its internal composition). The third axis looks at the developments that took place in the perception of the Jewish collective in Israel throughout the years of the state. These are three ever-expanding co-centered circles that encompass the issue of sexual vulnerability in men: in the central circle are issues of gender and masculinity, surrounded by issues related to the military and in any case force and violence, and beyond them trends of change in the characteristics of Jewish society in Israel. I will argue that in each of these circles there is a dominant process of challenging and disintegrating the traditional centralized structures, alongside trends of political, religious, and cultural conservatism. These changes provoke significant social and interpersonal tensions as well as actions that are experienced as violence by the opposite party. At the same time, they create better conditions for open discourse about sexual abuse in general and men in particular. These three circles are inevitably fed and influenced by global processes. 
    A narrative, semi-systematic review has been conducted to examine how the attitude towards the subject has changed and how research on it has developed. A semi-systematic review is used to identify central themes or theoretical perspectives in the examined field. This type of review is particularly appropriate for the topic under discussion, which is scarcely discussed (academically and in generally), yet significant developments have taken place over time. The review is based on the analysis of three types of sources: 1) academic - which includes a review of all articles and chapters dealing with sexual abuse of men in Israel 2) journalists - relevant articles and reports 3) publications of the association of rape crisis centers in Israel.
    Based on this review, a historical analysis will be presented, over three distinct periods. The review revealed three prominent examples of proactive actions that promoted change, in different circles: 1) the state - changes in legislation and in particular the law to prevent sexual harassment 2) the organization - the establishment of assistance centers, including dedicated lines for men 3) the public - the MeToo movement and the expansion of public discourse about sexual harassment. The three channels complement each other. The first treats offenders and seeks to promote severe and appropriate punishment that will convey a moral message to the public. The second, treats victims (existing and potential), acts to prevent future harm, and seeks to provide victims with circles of support and assistance. This course of action will promote social recognition of victims, justice as well as rehabilitation and recovery processes. The third, deals with the ecology or the socio-cultural environment that allows the existence of assaults, their silencing, and the blaming of the victims. 
    Finally, based on the conclusions, three major courses of action will be proposed for prevention, to promote appropriate punishment of the assailants, and acknowledge the victims. The three aforementioned circles also outline three future channels of action to prevent and reduce sexual injuries in men. In each channel, it is necessary to expand and deepen activities to promote change in relation to men who are victims of sexual assault. A multi-professional coalition - comprising therapeutic, legal, social and political - will enable a significant multiplication of efforts. In the current context, the connection between the fight against sexual abuse of women and men will benefit from the combination of forces (on the gender level) which will emphasize that this is not a sectoral struggle defined by gender, class, ethnic, political, or other divisions. It is a fight for the identity of the Israeli society, for the boundaries it establishes regarding relationships and violence, and for the norms concerning care for the injured and condemnation of perpetrators within it. 

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Keywords: Gender; Historical Review; Israeli Society; Masculinity; Militarism; Sexual Assault

 

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An Ethnography of Rituals to Perform the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim) Rituals in a Reform Community

Elazar Ben-Lulu

Contemporary religious communities re-define the boundaries of entering and exiting them, deal with universal cultural events while simultaneously responding to political local power relations, and also seek to provide changing identities for their members, including recognition of gender diversity. In Israel, Reform Judaism is a fertile ground for examining the interface between religiosity and liberalism, given the fact that it is a non-Orthodox community that sanctifies gender equality.
    In this study, based on an ethnographic analysis of two rituals for Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim) in an Israeli Reform Jewish community (the Tashlich and the Kol Nidre prayer ("all vows"), I examine how the rituals are performed and interpreted in the Reform community by women and LGBTQ people. I argue that, their participation embodies a political choice to mark gender and sexual identities and to construct feminist-queer politics in the public space. The presence of a lesbian rabbi, creating new ritual prayers and gestures, produces a wide variety of gender, religious and political interpretations in relation to Jewish ritual; those that challenge hetero-normative norms and patterns. The Reform community, thus, emerges as an agency of resistance against phenomena of social exclusion and discrimination not only based on a liberal religious background, but on a gender-sexual background in the religious arena in particular, and in the public sphere in general.

    Religion in the postmodern era is undergoing significant upheavals and changes. Contrary to predictions of its decline in social importance due to the secularization thesis, religious communities continue to play a vital and active role in the social order. The practices they propose have political, cultural, and psychological effects. The classic model of the religious community has undergone conceptual and structural transformations, leading to the emergence of new religious and spiritual identities and communities in Israel. These new entities often face bureaucratic oversight and control mechanisms. An example of this is the Reform congregations, which position themselves as an alternative to Orthodox communities by offering a variety of religious practices based on liberal values to those not seeking a halachic Jewish practice or definition. This ideology is characterized by a bottom-up approach, where the community's policies and religious practices are shaped by identifying and responding to the needs of its members. This dynamic demonstrates the changing power relations between the individual and the religious system, highlighting the community's role as a provider of social services.
    Compared to the research on Orthodox Judaism and its various sectors, sociological and anthropological studies on Reform Judaism are still scarce and limited. In this article, I present an ethnographic analysis of two rituals marking the High Holy Days: Tashlikh and the Kol Nidre prayer, within a Reform congregation that I studied for three years. I argue that the way women and LGBTQ people perform and interpret these rituals reflects polar experiences: both the hiding and suppression of their identities, and their gender and sexual fulfillment and empowerment. The space in which the ritual is performed, the inclusion of alternative texts (including new prayers), the presence of a lesbian rabbi, and the composition of the participants allow for a personal feminist and queer interpretation of the religious practice. The Reform community emerges as a haven for the realization and reflection of religious individualization, promoting individual freedom of choice and creativity rather than cultivating a transcendent commitment or devotion to the sublime. The interpretive freedom in performing the ritual reflects the worshiper's sovereignty over tradition, highlighting the desire to assert authority and validate participation in customs based on personal life experiences.
    Admittedly, sociological and anthropological research on the intersection of religiosity, gender, and sexuality has been expanding in recent years. Even within the Israeli-Jewish context, studies have shown interest in the intersection between religiosity and LGBTQ. However, unlike previous studies that provide important empirical information and outline the experiences of LGBTQ people within the Orthodox world, my research specifically focuses on a non-Orthodox religious community. Some may argue that this focus is unnecessary since Reform Judaism is inherently liberal and inclusive, and therefore lacks elements of resistance and struggle. However, this assumption is fundamentally incorrect: the acceptance of LGBTQ people within the Reform movement has evolved over the years, involving both inclusion and exclusion. The sociological and anthropological discourse around this topic remains underexplored and deserves attention.
    Therefore, the fieldwork, which included participant observations of rituals and interviews with community members, demonstrates how participation in religious rituals and their performance can illuminate the ways in which women and LGBTQ people integrate into religious practice in Israel. The Reform community, as a liberal religious denomination, advocates for gender equality and provides women and LGBTQ individuals with all the organizational, administrative, and liturgical conditions necessary to create a safe prayer space.
    The performance—in a space that is not a synagogue—neutralizes the sacred space of any ontological meaning and turns the spotlight on the participants themselves. It is the moment of occurrence that is sanctified, the individual performing their religious work, rather than the space or its attributed representations. This postmodern religious practice presents a Jewish liturgy with gender as a central element. The prayer is proposed as an essential action for achieving self- and communal recognition regarding non-heteronormative gender or sexual identities and experiences. Although the Reform implementation often encounters difficulties and internal contradictions in the tension between preservation and renewal, this bipolar movement is not merely a postmodern expression but an inherent part of the character of Jewish tradition itself. The interpretation of the rituals is shaped by recognizing the locality of the Reform community, which navigates relations of exclusion and inclusion. This community exists within the Jewish sovereign space, which discriminates against Reform Judaism, and within the Tel Aviv space, which allows for the inclusion of diverse gender and sexual identities that also face discrimination, such as the LGBTQ community.
    While this micro-research is based on specific case studies and personal narratives, it unveils a social trend surpassing mere "self-creation." It suggests that feminist and queer principles are integral to the social, cultural, and even marketing infrastructure of Israeli Reform Judaism. This trend mirrors developments in the Reform movement overseas but is nuanced by local complexities. In Israel, these complexities are steeped in local constructions and characterized by power dynamics that foster minority consciousness rather than majority consciousness. For instance, the rarity of women blowing the shofar in Israel underscores the Orthodox sanctification of Orthodoxy as the sole authority. This holds theoretical significance for comparative studies exploring Israeli phenomena adopted and assimilated within the region.

Keywords: LGBTQ, Ethnography, Reform Judaism, Jewish Holidays, Rituals, Gender 

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The Origins and the Global Context of the Contemporary Israeli Crises

Oded Heilbronner

The 21st century has witnessed a surge of geopolitical, economic, ecological, and democratic crises. These crises have ushered in a new era of geopolitical competition, destabilized the Middle East, fractured the European Union, and exposed old political fault lines across the West. This has led to mass protests, populist leaders, and movements worldwide, including in Israel.
    This essay argues that the recent crises experienced by Israelis, particularly the regime change and the Gaza War, cannot be understood solely within a local context. They are instead part of a global response to broader instability. The rise of populism in Israel, threats to Israeli democracy, and the Hamas attack on October 7th are all integral aspects of a global phenomenon.
The author analyzes the global context of the Israeli case using five criteria:

1. Deep Changes in Capitalism: The shift from an economic-social structure based on private capital accumulation to a more total organization of human relations and the relationship with nature. This process is cyclical, with periods of crisis alongside periods of stability and growth.

2. New Geopolitical Spaces: The emergence of a new global order replacing the Cold War's East-West division. This new order features a division between the Global North (the West) and the Global South, with China playing a central role in the latter. This division creates waves of immigration and refugee crises, leading to social and political disorder in the West, including the Middle East.

3. Energy and Ecology: The economic and geopolitical competition between old (oil) and new (green) energy sources impacts power relations between geopolitical spaces. The West, led by the US and EU, develops environmentally friendly energy sources, while China and Russia continue to produce and use harmful energies, contributing to global tensions.

4. Populist Crisis: The rise of populism and challenges to the post-war liberal and democratic order in the West, Israel, and some Global South countries.

5. Social Media and Networks: The rise of social media and digital networks as public spheres and the evolving use of technology for information dissemination.

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Keywords: Israel; Globalism; New World Order; Crises

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The Manliest Man in Family Planning: Vasectomy and Masculinity in Israel

Noga Friedman
Vasectomy is a permanent contraceptive method for men, which can promote gender equality in fertility work, according to most reproduction scholars. Despite global efforts to increase its utilization it remains rare and relatively unknown in many countries, including Israel. Despite, or perhaps due to, its marginality, exploring the experience of undergoing vasectomy provides a window into the ways in which Israeli men navigate the complex terrain of masculinity and reproductive responsibility in a society characterized by strong pronatalist norms.

    The paper situates vasectomy within the broader context of the gendered division of responsibility for contraception, perceptions of masculinity, and Israel's pronatalist culture. It highlights the lack of medical technologies for male contraceptives as the embodiment of the prevailing social expectation for women to bear the primary responsibility for contraception. The paper discusses traditional conceptions of hegemonic masculinity, which emphasize dominance, autonomy, and detachment from feminine spheres, as well as newer notions of inclusive masculinity and hybrid masculinity. The latter concepts suggest a softening of traditional masculine norms and the incorporation of more egalitarian practices, albeit without fundamentally challenging patriarchal power structures. The paper also reviews the scholarship on reproduction in Israel, demonstrating how the current body of research perpetuates the gendered societal conceptions of reproductive work by primarily concentrating on women's experiences, whereas the involvement of men in this domain remains largely unexplored.

     The study employed a constructivist qualitative methodology, conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 Israeli Jewish men aged 38-51 who had undergone vasectomy. Three of the participants were childless, and the rest had fathered children and have finished their reproductive plan (between 2-6 children). Participants were recruited through online platforms and snowball sampling, ensuring a diverse sample in terms of socioeconomic background and family structure. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed using a grounded theory approach, allowing for the emergence of themes and concepts directly from the participants' narratives. Given the intimate and sensitive nature of the topic, special attention was paid to the participants' body language and the power dynamics within the interviews, with the researcher committed to upholding the principles of feminist ethics, such as respect, empathy, and non-judgmental listening. The study was approved by the ethics committee of Ben Guryon University.

    The key findings of the study reveal that the decision to undergo vasectomy was accompanied by a significant shift from a passive and disengaged stance regarding reproduction to active involvement in preventing pregnancy and unplanned births, once they decided they have reached their desired family size. Participants reported various motivations for choosing vasectomy, including the desire to relieve their partner of the burden of contraception, dissatisfaction with other contraceptive methods, and the wish to engage in worry-free sexual intimacy. Participants also faced social criticism questioning their masculinity and expressing concern about potential regret, particularly in light of scenarios such as divorce or the loss of a child. In response, participants justified their choice by drawing on values associated with traditional masculinity, such as rationality, individuality, and autonomy, as well as notions of inclusive masculinity, such as sensitivity and support for their partner.

    The study also identified different discursive strategies employed by participants regarding vasectomy, ranging from complete silence to activist discourse. Some participants chose to keep their vasectomy private, viewing it as a personal matter, while others selectively disclosed it to close friends and family. A minority of participants actively engaged in public discourse, framing vasectomy as a political act and seeking to raise awareness and challenge prevailing norms. The choice to remain silent or openly discuss the procedure was influenced by the participant's perception of vasectomy as a private or political act, as well as their level of comfort with potential social scrutiny and criticism.

    The discussion highlights how the male body is also a disciplined site, subject to monitoring and regulation by the pronatalist discourse in Israel. The social criticism faced by participants reveals vasectomy as a subversive act that disrupts the gendered social order and challenges assumptions about male fertility and reproductive responsibility. However, the masculinity perceptions presented by participants show that while taking responsibility for contraception challenges the established order, it is often embedded in traditional dichotomous notions of hegemonic masculinity, such as the valorization of rationality over emotion and individuality over relationality. This suggests the performance of hybrid masculinities, where new practices are adopted without fundamentally altering patriarchal power relations.
    The study makes significant contributions to the understudied intersection of masculinity and reproduction in Israel, revealing how pronatalist discourses police the male body in unique gendered ways and contribute to the preservation of gender inequality in contraceptive burden.
The study opens new avenues for research on men and reproduction in Israel, underscoring the importance of examining men's involvement in reproduction with a dynamic, life-course perspective attentive to the shifting meanings and practices of masculinity across different stages and contexts. The experiences of the participants demonstrate how vasectomy, despite crossing traditional gender lines, can be framed as an act that affirms masculinity, whether in accordance with values of hegemonic or inclusive masculinity.

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Keywords: vasectomy, masculinity, contraception, pronatalism, gender

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Between Center and Periphery: Disparities in Patients’ Satisfaction with the Implementation of the Patient's Rights Law, 1996

Keren Semyonov-Tal

Israel is legally obligated to the provision of high-quality healthcare services to all residents. However, it is widely acknowledged that health resources in Israel are not equally distributed and accessible to all individuals, particularly due to disparities in health services between central and peripheral areas. This study aims to assess differences in patients’ perceptions of the protection of medical rights during hospitalization. It especially focuses on differences in satisfaction levels of the provision of healthcare services between patients hospitalized in central areas compared to those in the periphery of Israel. The research utilizes data obtained from the Ministry of Health's Patient Experience Survey in Inpatient Departments in General Hospitals (2018) to identify subjective gaps in the perception of maintaining medical rights in public hospitals in Israel.

    In recent years, a growing number of studies have begun focusing on the patient's experience as a crucial aspect of evaluating healthcare systems worldwide. While some studies emphasize the close relationship between satisfaction and the quality of health services, others question whether satisfaction surveys accurately capture care quality and whether satisfaction responses are truly correlated with patient experience. Nevertheless, despite recognizing the limitations of self-reporting, many consider the patient to be a highly reliable source of information about the quality of care provided and received.

    When focusing on protecting medical rights in hospitals, it is crucial to consider the literature on legal consciousness. Legal-medical consciousness relates to the understanding and awareness of patients and medical teams regarding legal and medical rights and obligations. Research indicates that both healthcare professionals and patients often do not have a full awareness of their legal and medical rights. Additionally, studies in Israel and around the world have repeatedly shown that residence in rural or peripheral areas limits access to resources in general and access to hospitals and quality medical services in particular. Limited access to quality healthcare facilities leads, in turn, to an increase in health disparities and in the provision of quality healthcare services between urban and rural residents.

    Data for the analysis were obtained from the ‘Patient Experience Survey in General Hospitals’ conducted by the Israeli Ministry of Health in 2018. The survey includes 10,970 patients who were hospitalized in 25 general hospitals in Israel. The patients provided information regarding their hospitalization experience, including information regarding the provision of services and their level of satisfaction with the services. A series of logit regression equations were estimated to evaluate patients’ perceptions of the protection of medical rights deriving from the Patient's Rights Act. The analysis focuses on eight indicators of patient rights. Statistical tests assessed satisfaction with adherence to or violation of the law’s derivatives and differences in satisfaction levels between patients hospitalized in central areas and those in the periphery.

    The findings reveal that for most of the law's derivatives, most patients believe and, thus, contend that their medical rights were not protected during hospitalization. Furthermore, patients hospitalized in centrally located hospitals believe their medical rights are better preserved and better protected than those hospitalized in the periphery. The study shows that disparities in the protection of medical rights may be related to the legal awareness of the patients, which may affected by differences in culture, patient satisfaction, legal consciousness, and the differential allocation of economic resources (including manpower) across space (i.e., between center and periphery in Israel).

    The study underscores disparities in patient satisfaction regarding the implementation of legal rights between public hospitals in central and peripheral areas of Israel, with patients in hospitals located in the central regions expressing higher levels of satisfaction with the provision of legal rights than patients hospitalized in the periphery. However, the findings seem to indirectly address two other issues: differences in patients' expectations and differences in patients' legal awareness. For instance, Jewish patients may expect a more comprehensive provision of alternative medical options compared to Arab patients. Variations in expectations may be closely linked to awareness of rights, but they could also stem from differential levels of expectations regarding the enforcement of legal rights. Moreover, patients' perspectives and expectations may differ based on cultural, religious, national, and gender identities. Another interesting finding from the data is patient's perception of discrimination. While most patients stated that there was no direct discrimination against them, a high percentage did notice differences in the respectful attitude and gaps in the quality of care, and in allocation of resources and time. Therefore, the research findings prompt us to consider the relationships between three concepts: satisfaction, expectations, and legal awareness. The direct question about discrimination may not be immediately obvious to patients, but responses about satisfaction indicate inequality in the quality of care. This suggests that expectations, legal awareness, and satisfaction are interconnected. Indeed, in order to accurately gauge satisfaction with the provision of legal rights, it is important to understand the factors that influence and shape legal consciousness.

    The way people perceive the law and its enforcement can significantly impact the ways patients utilize the law, are aware of the rights, and recognize situations involving discrimination under the law. While this study does not directly examine legal awareness, it does not rule out the possibility of a connection between satisfaction with the enforcement of rights and awareness of such rights. Therefore, I do hope that future studies will further explore whether and how legal consciousness is linked to satisfaction with the provision of medical services.

 

Keywords: Patients right act; patient satisfaction; legal consciousness; health disparities; spatial disparities

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Dancing Simultaneously on Both Fields, or: Why is Critical Theory Being 'Misused'?

Ori Schwarz

Abstract. Since October 7, there has been a lively debate in Israel about the alleged ‘misuse’ of critical theory. I suggest these accusations are no coincidence: critical theory is more generally prone to be viewed as ‘misused’ due to the structural position of the critical project. This project operates in two fields simultaneously, striving to transform both through a single intervention: producing knowledge within an academic field in order to generate a transformation in the political field. This is a risky and acrobatic move because once knowledge moves across fields, its meaning and its uses necessarily transform as well. Sometimes critical knowledge is being appropriated by political projects that do not share critical theory’s humanist moral horizon. In other cases, the shift into the political field results in moralizing sociology, which adopts the ‘logic of the trial’, turning social reality from an object of analysis into an object of judgment. To cope with these risks and to protect the critical project, critical scholarship must distinguish between analytical explanation and normative judgment (but importantly, not between the analytical and the political: contrariwise, this move is aimed at protecting and maintaining the political relevance of sociological knowledge); defend the autonomy of academic fields; and develop reflexivity about the performativity of critical knowledge and a sense of responsibility for the possible ways in which it may be appropriated.

Keywords: Critical theory, sociological critique, fields
 

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