The Complex Interplay of Religion, Law and Politics in Israel

Join us on March 9 for an in-person-only conversation at UCLA on key legal battles in Israel to protect and advance Israeli democracy and religious pluralism.

Without the protections of a written constitution and a clear separation of religion and state, Israelis face unique challenges in securing fundamental rights to equality and religious freedom under Israeli law. Although Israel’s Declaration of Independence commits to “complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race, or sex” the authority of the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate and the disproportionate influence of Orthodox political parties within Israel’s parliamentary system have contributed to violations of the rights of women, non-Orthodox Jews, members of the LGBTQ+ community and Palestinian citizens of Israel. Israeli lawyer and activist Orly Erez-Likhovski will discuss key legal battles in Israel to protect and advance Israeli democracy and religious pluralism.

Speaker: Orly Erez-Likhovski, Director of Israel Religious Action Center
Moderator: Carol Bakhos, Robert E. Archer Chair in the Study of Religion, Director, UCLA Center for the Study of Religion

Click here for more information and to register for this in-person event. After registering, you will be emailed an RSVP confirmation. If you do not receive your email confirmation, please check your spam or junk mail folders.

About the Speakers

Orly Erez-Likhovski has served as an attorney at the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) since 2004, as Director of the Legal Department from 2014–2021, and Director of IRAC since 2021. In these roles, she has brought about significant legal achievements such as making gender segregation on public transportation illegal, ending the Orthodox monopoly on state-funded salaries to rabbis, filing (and winning) the first-ever class action suit regarding exclusion of women, and disqualifying racist candidates from running to Israel’s parliament. Orly holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Tel Aviv University and a master’s degree in law with a focus on human rights law from Columbia University in New York. She is a member of the Bar Association in Israel and New York.

Carol Bakhos (moderator) is Professor of Late Antique Judaism and Jewish Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and teaches for the Study of Religion IDP.  Since 2012 she has served as Chair of the Study of Religion program and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion at UCLA. Her most recent monograph, The Family of Abraham: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Interpretations (Harvard University Press, 2014), was translated into Turkish (2015). In 2018, Bakhos received an NEH Summer-Institute grant to direct “Religious Landscapes of LA: Teaching and Exploring Religious Diversity Through Civic Engagement,” for K-12 educators.

Organized by the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. This event is part of the Center’s series “Religion in Israeli Society.” Co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for the Study of Religion.