Women’s rights are on a sharp decline in Israel. Advocates blame Netanyahu’s far-right government

CNN’s framing treats a single index ranking as a moral verdict, then pins it on Netanyahu’s coalition as if complex social trends can be reverse engineered into one villain. That may satisfy a storyline, but it does not illuminate what Israeli women actually face day to day, or how a democracy balances competing claims.

Conservatives are wary of turning advocacy metrics into policy mandates. Indexes can reflect real problems, but they also bake in assumptions about what “rights” must mean across cultures and legal systems. The better question is whether Israel is protecting equal protection under law, preserving public trust in institutions, and applying rules consistently across religious and secular communities.

America should support an ally’s security and stability while expecting rule-of-law governance and fairness in civil life. If women are being failed, the remedy is accountable courts and transparent policy, not imported narratives that reduce Israel to a caricature.