In next Tuesday’s local elections in Israel, there will be a record number of women running for mayor.  The 40 women candidates represent a 40 percent increase in the number of women who ran in the 2003 elections. There are 245 municipalities and councils in Israel, but there have only been 10 female mayors and heads of local councils.

Former NIF grantee Israel Women's Network (IWN), which promotes the status of women and stresses the need for more women to become involved in Israeli politics, can take some credit for the increasing numbers. IWN recently ran a workshop for these mayoral candidates led by its Executive Director Rina Bar-Tal, a former Deputy Mayor of Raanana, with the participation of the three female incumbents - Miriam Feirberg-Ikar, Mayor of Netanya, Yael German, Mayor of Herzliya and Flora Shoshan, Mayor of Mitzpe Ramon Local Council, as well as the 30 hopefuls.

Mayor of Netanya Miriam Feirberg-Ikar gave tips to other candidates in a recent Israel Women's Network Workshop.

"We stressed building campaigns and interview techniques," said IWN spokesperson Yael Edelist. "But most importantly we emphasized the significance of networking in Israeli politics. Israeli men know how to leverage their network of acquaintances from the army, university and school.”

At the same time, a record 4,000 women are candidates to become council members in the elections compared to 2,700 in 2003 when 205 women were elected.