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CNN’s Women’s Rights Narrative on Israel Collapses Under Misleading Data
Israel’s women’s basketball team in action against Ireland. Photo: Screenshot
Israeli women are living in a dystopian reality where, year by year, they are being stripped of their most basic rights. At least, that’s what one would think from reading CNN’s, “Women’s rights are on a sharp decline in Israel. Advocates blame Netanyahu’s far-right government.”
But CNN’s article is a far stretch from the truth.
The piece frames Israel through a distorted lens of reality. Women wearing red gowns and white hats lead the cover image of the article, presenting Israel as a nightmarish reality, where women are living in a version of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
But read the fine print, and you see that this image, taken nearly three years ago, concerned demonstrations against Israeli legal reforms, not the decline of women’s rights.
Screenshot from CNN.
From there, the framing of the article is set. The distortion of women’s rights is not accidental but structural, rooted in how CNN selects imagery, language, and ultimately the data it relies on to construct its narrative.
Relying on a Faulty Index
CNN’s article is based on data from the Women Peace and Security Index (WPS Index) by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. The index scores and ranks 181 countries on women’s wellbeing based on 13 indicators, including employment, education, and access to justice, cellphone use, son bias, and proximity to conflict. Taken together, these indicators are not uniquely gender-specific. Many reflect broader societal conditions that affect the entire population.
The findings declared that Israel ranked in 84th place, noting that in 2023, Israel ranked 27th.
Remarkably, Israel is behind several countries that have extremely poor women’s rights.
Oman is ranked 58th, despite openly discriminating against women in terms of divorce and legal guardianship. Saudi Arabia is ranked 63rd, though women require a male guardian, and Qatar ranked in 70th place, despite women requiring a guardian’s permission to leave the country, marry, or pursue higher education on a scholarship.
There are several other countries with long-demonstrated records of laws that restrict women in several aspects of life. Israel is not one of them.
CNN originally published the article without mentioning that three years ago, Israel was not in the midst of a multi-front war after terrorist organizations attacked its sovereign borders. It since issued a correction and a one-line update, but it is remarkable that the article was published without this crucial information in the first place, as this directly impacts the findings of the WPS Index, which encompasses many categories related to safety, terrorism, and conflict more broadly.
Thus, even if there is a lack of change in other categories, the change in the security situation directly impacts the index.
In the WPS Index, Israel is compared to other developed countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and the US, further skewing the presentation of the results. Those countries are not contending with sustained warfare on multiple fronts. By contrast, “Palestine” — ranked 167 and unmentioned in the CNN article — is grouped with fragile states, including Yemen, Qatar, and Afghanistan. This asymmetrical framing by the WPS Index, which CNN adopts without scrutiny, creates a misleading comparison that exaggerates Israel’s decline.
Nonetheless, a graph created by CNN compares Israel to the US and Afghanistan, which ranked 181. This visual representation further distorts the reality, as Afghanistan is not in the same group as either Israel or the US, and the US is not in the middle of a war in proximity to its own territory.
Screenshot from CNN.
Skewing the Reality
CNN additionally suggests that because there are currently fewer women in Israel’s parliament, this correlates to a lack of women’s rights. Of course, it would be nice to have more women’s representation, but the lack of representation does not imply malicious intent or systemic rollback.
Women’s political representation fluctuates over time and varies across electoral cycles in every democracy. Many democratic countries face similar gaps. The US, for example, is only four percentage points ahead of Israel in this regard. Improving women’s representation is a challenge shared globally, not evidence of a uniquely Israeli failure.
Israel is unique, however, in that it is the world’s only Jewish state. That means it is the only state that also incorporates aspects of Jewish law, which inherently differ from Western secular norms. As such, rabbinical courts run by men have more power over Jewish family law than secular courts in Western states. While CNN presents this as an issue that sprouted during the past three years during this current government, there has been a consistent and ongoing debate in Israeli society about the extent to which religion can and should influence the law.
If CNN truly wanted to present this issue in a non-partisan manner, it would have interviewed and represented both sides, as well as judges from the courts. However, a heartbreaking story of one woman’s challenges with the court is presented as representative of the system as a whole – an approach that privileges emotional impact over balanced analysis.
CNN further jumps the gun on the conclusion that there is a link between the increase in gun ownership and femicide. Yet there is no data to suggest this connection exists. In reality, Israelis rushed to buy guns in the aftermath of October 7 as a measure to protect themselves, and with encouragement from the government. And, unlike the US, for example, stringent gun laws and licensing ensure that gun ownership remains limited to qualified individuals.
No, Israel is not a perfect country, and, like all democracies, it has areas that require ongoing debate and improvement. What makes Israel unique is that it navigates the challenge of being both a Jewish and democratic state, allowing its citizens to practice their rights within a legal framework shaped by centuries of tradition and modern law.
While CNN attempts to present a dystopian reality of what it means to be a woman living in Israel today, this is not reflected in Israeli society. Rather, Israeli women exercise their rights in an environment that strives to balance religious principles with democratic freedoms, even in the midst of a war.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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Netanyahu: ‘Our Forces Are Striking the Heart of Tehran With Increasing Strength’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in the state memorial ceremony for the fallen of the Iron Swords War on Mount Herzl, in Jerusalem, Oct. 16, 2025. Photo: Alex Kolomoisky/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israeli forces had “eliminated the dictator Ali Khamenei” along with dozens of senior officials of Iran’s regime during a statement delivered from the roof of the Kirya, Israel’s defense headquarters.
“Yesterday, we eliminated the dictator Khamenei. Along with him, dozens of senior officials from the oppressive regime were eliminated,” Netanyahu said after a meeting with the Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff, and the Director of Mossad. He added that he had issued instructions to continue the offensive.
According to Netanyahu, Israeli forces are “now striking at the heart of Tehran with increasing intensity,” a campaign he said will “increase further in the days to come.”
The Prime Minister also acknowledged the toll of the conflict on Israel, calling recent days “painful” and offering condolences to the families of victims in Tel Aviv and Beit Shemesh, while wishing a speedy recovery to those injured.
Netanyahu emphasized that the operation mobilizes “the full power of the Israel Defense Forces, like never before,” in order to “guarantee our existence and our future.” He also highlighted US support, noting “the assistance of my friend, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and of the American military.”
“This combination of forces allows us to do what I have hoped to accomplish for 40 years: strike the terrorist regime right in the face,” Netanyahu concluded. “I promised it — and we will keep our word.”
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Trump Says Iran Military Operations Are ‘Ahead of Schedule,’ CNBC Reports
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Secretary of State Marco Rubio during military operations in Iran, at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. February 28, 2026. The White House/Social Media/Handout via REUTERS
US President Donald Trump told CNBC on Sunday that US military operations against Iran are “ahead of schedule.”
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Iranian Missile Strike on Beit Shemesh in Israel Kills 9
Emergency personnel work at the site of an Iranian strike, after Iran launched missile barrages following attacks by the US and Israel on Saturday, in Beit Shemesh, Israel, March 1, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
An Iranian missile strike hit the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh on Sunday, killing nine people and wounding dozens, in what authorities described as a direct impact on a public bomb shelter.
A ballistic missile leveled the bomb shelter, leaving a large crater in its wake. Most, if not all, of those killed had been taking cover inside the shelter when it hit, Jerusalem Police Deputy Commissioner Avshalom Peled said at the impact scene.
Those in critical condition were airlifted to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
At least 20 people were still missing late on Sunday afternoon local time.
As you read this, an Iranian missile has just struck a residential neighborhood in Beit Shemesh, Israel, only 30 kilometers/about 18 miles from Jerusalem.
Nine people are dead.
More than 20 are wounded, including children. A
public shelter collapsed from the direct hit. An… pic.twitter.com/mEVDlPEqgf
— Ella Kenan (@EllaTravelsLove) March 1, 2026
Several buildings surrounding the shelter in Beit Shemesh, which is west of Jerusalem, were also damaged in the attack, with two collapsing entirely. A synagogue was also destroyed.
Emergency crews from Magen David Adom, ZAKA, and United Hatzalah joined fire and rescue units at the site, combing damaged buildings and debris for possible survivors. Many people were trapped under rubble or inside apartments, first responders said.
The Iranian Regime directly fired missiles toward the civilian neighborhood of Beit Shemesh, killing innocent civilians.
The Iranian regime purposely targets civilian targets while we precisely target terror targets. This is who we’re operating against—a regime who uses… pic.twitter.com/9W8Fp4T2tH
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 1, 2026
Chaim Wingarten, deputy director of operations at rescue organization ZAKA, described the scenes as “very difficult.”
“When I arrived, it was a huge chaos, with wounded people everywhere,” he said.
The strike was part of a larger volley that triggered air-raid sirens across the country. A man in his fifties was wounded by shrapnel elsewhere in central Israel.
IDF foreign media spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani charged Iran with deliberately firing at civilians. “We know this is their strategy,” he said, adding that Israel would do “everything in our power to remove these capabilities from this bloodthirsty terrorist regime.”
The Beit Shemesh hit marked the highest single-incident death toll inside Israel since the confrontation with Iran began a day earlier. The previous peak came during the 12-day war in June 2025, when a missile slammed into an apartment block in Bat Yam and killed nine people.
The Beit Shemesh strike came a day after US and Israeli forces struck a compound in Tehran killing senior Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose death was later announced on Iranian state television.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump said 48 Iranian leaders were killed in the strikes. “Nobody can believe the success we’re having; 48 leaders are gone in one shot. And it’s moving along rapidly,” he said.
Separately, the American president told CNBC that the US operation was “ahead of schedule.”
Thousands of Iranians braved the strikes and took to the streets to celebrate Khamenei’s death on Saturday evening. Many people stood on balconies and at windows chanting “freedom, freedom,” The New York Times reported. People in the Iranian city of Shiraz were “abandoning their cars for an impromptu dance party, whistling, cheering, clapping, and screaming with joy. In many videos, celebrants joined together in a cheer that is typically reserved for weddings, symbolizing pure joy,” the report said.
GeoConfirmed Iran.
People chanting – Celebrations through the Foolad Shahr area in Isfahan with joy and jubilation over the killing of Khamenei.
Rough location – 32.48169, 51.39167
F9JR+MMF Fuladshahr, Isfahan Province, IranGeoLocated by @Mitch_Ulrich
Geolocation:… https://t.co/iv9TlSPPfS
— GeoConfirmed (@GeoConfirmed) February 28, 2026
Can you hear the joy in his voice?
“I am dreaming, hello world!” pic.twitter.com/ICq77zBerv— William Mehrvarz (@WilliamMehrvarz) March 1, 2026
Iran retaliated by firing repeated waves of missiles and drones, with launches aimed not only at Israel but also at US bases in the Middle East, including Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. Iran on Sunday morning also launched two missiles at Cyprus, where thousands of British military personnel are stationed, which fell short.
Later in the afternoon, the US acknowledged its first losses with US Central Command, saying three American service members were killed and five were seriously wounded during the operations in Iran.