National Interests Versus Women’s Rights: The Case of Polygamy Among the Bedouin Community in Israel

Abstract

Polygamy violates the basic human rights of women involved in it. It is an institution that is usually shaped by multiple factors that are not limited to gender discrimination, such as race, ethnicity, and economic status. Within the Bedouin community in Israel, polygamy is the product of internal and State-endorsed patriarchy, and of discriminatory land policies and the forced relocation of Bedouin tribes in the Negev. This article criticizes Israel’s approach to polygamy by highlighting its two key failures: the failure to view polygamy as a form of intersectional discrimination, portraying it solely as a cultural issue; and treating polygamy primarily as a threat to demographic and other controversial interests and prioritizing the latter over the rights of the victims of polygamy.