The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, has passed a law that enshrines gender segregation in universities, placing the practice on a statutory footing rather than leaving it to institutional policy or interim court arrangements.

The legislation, reported by Middle East Eye, converts what had previously been a matter of academic discretion and periodic litigation into binding national law. Under the new statute, universities in Israel may formally maintain separate educational frameworks for men and women.

What does the law do?

The law entrenches gender segregation in Israeli higher education. Its practical effect is to remove uncertainty that surrounded segregated study programs, which previously depended on.

• institutional decisions by individual universities;
• temporary or case-specific court accommodations;
• arrangements negotiated with religious communities seeking separate study tracks.

By legislating on the issue, the Knesset has made segregated provision a matter of statutory right rather than administrative tolerance.

Who decided, and where?

The deciding body is the Knesset, Israel's parliament, which passed the law through the ordinary legislative process. The jurisdiction is Israel. The measure applies to universities across the Israeli higher education system.

What does this change for practitioners?

For lawyers advising universities, students and advocacy groups, the shift moves the battleground from administrative and contractual argument to constitutional and anti-discrimination challenge. Claimants who previously could press universities to end segregated tracks through internal complaints or petitions grounded in equality principles must now confront an express statute. Any challenge would likely proceed on constitutional grounds, testing the legislation against Israel's Basic Laws and its equality jurisprudence, rather than against regulatory standards. Conversely, institutions and religious communities seeking segregated provision now hold a clear statutory anchor, reducing their exposure to discrimination claims arising from separate-track arrangements. Compliance teams should audit existing programs against the statute's exact scope, since the practical boundaries of permitted segregation will turn on the operative language of the enacted text and any regulations issued under it.

Why does it matter?

Gender segregation in Israeli academia has long sat at the intersection of religious accommodation and equality law. Legislating on the question signals that the Knesset, rather than the courts or university administrations, now controls the framework. Observers of Israeli constitutional practice will watch whether petitioners mount a Basic Law challenge, and how the Supreme Court responds to a statute that touches a core equality question.

The law's passage also sets a precedent for how other contested accommodations — in funding, staffing, or admissions — may be resolved through legislation rather than litigation.

This report is based on the limited details available in the source reporting; statutory citations and vote counts were not specified.