U'Bizchutan

U'Bizchutan (Hebrew: ובזכותן, lit., and by their [f.] merit) (also referred to as Bezchutan, 'B’Zhutan, and U'Bezchutan) is an Israeli political party formed in early 2015 by social activist Ruth Colian. It is the first political party in Israel focused on Orthodox Jewish women. The two previously existing Haredi Israeli parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, do not allow female candidates to run on their election slates. Colian says the party will represent all women who are dissatisfied with the current state of Israel's religious establishment.^[1] In the 2015 election, the party failed to pass the electoral threshold necessary to win seats in the Knesset, receiving only 1,802 votes (0.04%).