5050 Initiative
Quarterly Summaries

What are your contributions doing?Update of 1st Quarter 2026 To All Our Partners:

1. Launching a petition demanding gender parity 5050 alternating (zipper) list candidacy in all parties

The State of Israel is heading toward elections that are critical to our future. We are demanding that party leaders across all parties commit to an equal zipper (alternating) list candidacy that guarantees real, not symbolic, equality.

Public pressure works. Join us and sign.

2. We've launched a new website

After 3 years on a basic site, we have just moved to an updated platform that puts our vision and work front and center.

This is not just a new design; it is a tool for shifting consciousness, packed with our data and testimonials demonstrating the extensive activity of the 5050 initiative. In the coming year, our goal is to translate the site into Arabic and English.

The new site is still in its launch phase, and we'd love your feedback: https://www.5050il.co.il

3. 5050 in Prime Time

The broadcast of the actor and Comedian "Adi Ashkenazi Enters the Knesset" and the launch of the petition.

After intensive work behind the scenes, Adi Ashkenazi's Television Special on Keshet 12 reached 300,000 viewers who were exposed to our message and demands of 5050! We really hope you saw it (here is the link). A truly remarkable program!

The broadcast sparked an enormous public conversation on the issue, and in its wake we launched the petition demanding 5050 zipper (alternating) list candidacy in every party. Thousands have already signed, and we will not take this demand off the agenda until it becomes the new standard.

Haven't signed yet? Please sign and pass it on.

4. Expanding our team

Our organizational structure is expanding — Lola Rokni and Hanan Al-Sa'neh are joining the leadership of the 5050 initiative. We are now able to hire permanent staff, moving beyond freelance and part-time positions. We are a highly professional team now.

Lola Rokni - After a year of intensive volunteering, Lola joined in January as Projects and Volunteering Manager. Lola is an organizational consultant and executive coach by profession.

Adv. Hanan Al-Sa'ne - Hanan is the co-CEO of the Itach-Ma'aki organization and joined in February to lead 5050 within Arab society. The first phase of 5050 operated within the Centers for Social Justice, a force-multiplying partnership. Hanan believes in establishing a partnership with an independent nonprofit; it is a complete win-win.

5. 5050 In The Arab Sector

With Hanan Al-Sa'ne's joining, there has been an enormous leap in the initiative's activity within Arab society. In just a few months, we have already managed to lead meaningful processes in Arab society demanding 5050. Together with Rasha Ismail, who leads 5050 on behalf of the Centers for Social Justice, three WhatsApp groups in Arabic were established. We wrote a letter signed by 50 activists demanding equal representation in the unified Arab political list following the announcement of its formation. We applied public pressure that led to women's presence on the stages of the struggle against violence. Dozens of items in the Arab media.

Advancing 5050 activity in Arab society is one of the central goals for the coming year within the framework of the 5050 Elections Headquarters.

6. 5050 in the media

This year we launched the 5050 News Dashboard. A dedicated group of committed activists checks every week how equal the 8 PM evening news broadcast panels are across the various channels.

The average percentage of women appearing on the 8 PM evening news broadcast panels is only 29%!

We saw improvement following public pressure, and then when the war began, there was a drastic decline.

We will continue to demand 50% women in every news broadcast.

The good news: every week there are several media mentions referencing the demand for 50% women on panels. This represents a great deal of behind-the-scenes work on our part.

Thanks to a designated donation, we have begun working with a professional PR firm, and in the coming months we will act to place the demand for 5050 on the media agenda, especially ahead of the upcoming elections.

7. March 8, International Women’s Day 2026

We did not give up on International Women's Day, even in the shadow of the war. Although 18 lectures planned for Women's Day were cancelled due to the situation, we did not give up. With the help of two remarkable activists, Hadar Halperin Shoshani and Marta Stankiewicz, we developed the Equality Day Kit, featuring games and posts (press here for the kit) that allow every family to bring 5050 values into their home (and into the shelter too 🙂). This kit will serve us in the years to come.

8. Municipal work

Advancing gender equality in the municipal sphere continues thanks to the dozens of local WhatsApp groups that we maintain. In February, we led a course on advancing gender equality in the city of Modi'in. We met with municipal employees and senior managers to create a work plan for embedding equality in Modi'in. Modi'in is the pilot project, and our goal is to replicate this model across every local authority in the country.

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50% מהלקוחות הן נשים. איך הגיוני שבעל עסק מתעלם מחצי מקהל היעד?

יעל יחיאלי, דה־מרקר

9 נשים בממשלה או 24? ההבדל בין הגושים ברור מאי פעם

נחום פרי, מעריב

פודקאסט: יוצאות מן הכלל. זו המשמרת שלנו - 5050 עכשיו

עדי נודל מאחרת את יעל יחיאלי

50% מהלקוחות הן נשים. איך הגיוני שבעל עסק מתעלם מחצי מקהל היעד?

יעל יחיאלי, דה־מרקר

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9. 5050 In The Media

Thanks to a designated donation that we received, we have begun working with the PR firm "Kamhazi" out of a desire to maximize 5050's media presence during this election year. This will be accomplished by maximizing appearances, mentions, and opinion columns, and through direct work with media professionals who will reference the initiative and advance its vision.

What are your contributions doing?
Update of 2nd Quarter 2026
To All Our Partners:

1. Elections 2026 Headquarters: Demand for 5050 will change the face of Politics:

Our grassroots movement is working vigorously to ensure that party leaders understand that now is the time to commit to a "50/50 zipper" list.

What have we done in recent months?

Over 5,000 citizens have already signed our petition, which we have sent to the heads of the Party lists.
"50/50" activists have participated in hundreds of parlor meetings across the country, directly asking candidates whether they will commit to a "50/50 zipper" list. This question is also being raised in the media; for instance, during the announcement of the alliance between Naftali
Bennett and Yair Lapid, Haaretz reporter Yair Poldes asked about their commitment to 50% female representation, and Bennett addressed the issue from the stage.
PUBLIC PRESSURE WORKS
➡️The Democratic Party led by Yair Golan is committed to 5050 Zipper/alternating list.
➡️The Yashar Party led by Gadi Eisenkot is committed to 50% women in every ten slots.
➡️The B’yachad Party led by Naftali Bennett declares that there are more women than men on the list.
➡️In the Arab Balad Party primaries, 2 women were elected out of 5 on the list.
And of course, we will continue to go and pressure all the parties.

Want to join and go to home parlor Meetings?

Press the link below

2. 5050 in the Arab Sector

Attorney Hanan Al-Sana, Co-CEO of Itach-Ma’aki, joined our team to lead the "5050" initiative within Arab society, and the impact is already being felt on the ground.

After Hadash — one of Israel’s major Arab parties — held primaries in which no women were elected to realistic, winnable spots, our work is more critical than ever.

We established three Arabic-language WhatsApp networks in partnership with social justice centers.
We spearheaded a significant campaign in which 50 prominent Arab activists signed a joint demand for equal representation on the Arab parties' Joint List.
We significantly expanded our media presence—securing dozens of articles, interviews, and appearances in Arab media outlets—to ensure women take the stage, lead the fight against violence, and to drive change

3. The Israel Prize - Success For The Second Year In A Row!

For decades, the vast majority of the annual Israel Prize laureates were men. In 2024, only one woman stood on the awards stage. In response, we took action: in 2025, we called on universities and organizations to nominate deserving women for the prize committee. We launched a public campaign directed at the Ministry of Education, demanding that women comprise 50% of the Israel Prize recipients. We made history in 2025 when, for the first time, the prize was awarded to an equal split of 50% women and 50% men.

Our major concern was that this achievement would prove to be a one-time occurrence.

However, in 2026, we once again engaged with the universities and organizations, continued the campaign, and received hundreds of worthy nominations. And once again—in 2026 as well—women made up 50% of those on stage.

The vision and work plan have been implemented and are proving successful. We will continue next year as well.

4. 5050 in the Knesset

Part of 5050’s work takes place in the Knesset. Over the past few months, we have met with dozens of Members of Knesset—primarily from the Opposition—and attended discussions regarding women's rights.
A key campaign we have been involved in is the fight against the legislation permitting gender segregation in Graduate degree programs. We participated in ten Knesset Committee discussions on the matter; wherever we could make our voices heard, we did so.

Segregation is a practice that harms female students and faculty members, and undermines the value of equality. While the State of Israel invests in integrating the Ultra-Orthodox community into the workforce—an important endeavor — segregation cannot be legitimized in the name of integration.

5. Team Expansion

Our infrastructure continues to grow and strengthen:

The eloquent and talented Ofir Sagrasi has joined us to manage our social media presence.

Amir Shadmi has come aboard to take 5050’s marketing and customer service to the next level.

Nir Lax – Thanks to a valued contribution, the PR firm Nir Lax has joined as an impact multiplier leading up to the elections.

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6. World Cup Broadcast Channel Of 5050

🏆We took the opportunity to launch a WhatsApp group featuring daily trivia questions, while also sharing interesting facts about Soccer through a gender-equality lens.

Each day, we highlighted our preferred team for the match based on criteria regarding gender equality in that country.

At the end of each week, we held a raffle among everyone who answered correctly. Pictured here is Michael Asulin, one of the winners, who told us he solved the daily puzzle with his son—and that this was his first time hearing about 5050.

You are invited to join our “channel”, which will run through the World Cup final. ⚽💜

5050 Initiative Quarterly Summaries

What are your contributions doing? Update of 2nd Quarter 2026 To All Our Partners: