this just makes me want to pump my fist and go "yes!!!" Thank you, Israeli court.

Because it is indeed about being dragged into the 21st century, not as much civil rights, though there's that, too.

If one wants to live in a sub-culture that practices not living in the 21st century, then one shouldn't do things like expect the rest of the world to go along with your rules when you step outside your door. Them standing in the plane aisles was a nasty trick to try to get the society to go along with their world, pushing the envelope.

It is especially important that Israel take this stance because, as she says

“I think it is related to the fact that the ultra-orthodox have a lot of political power so they feel freer to make demands that they don’t make in the US.”

When they have political power to do such things in Israel, that is also message about what is acceptable in the Mideast in general in this day and age.

In NYC, it can still be quite uncomfortable as a woman to have to stand in line in summer clothes next to an ultra-orthodox male and endure the reaction. But it makes all the difference in the world that they know that it is the woman who has the right to chose to leave the situation, that they cannot demand that society flex to their little world.