The Knesset formed in the 1988 election was notable for the decided decline in the number of women elected as representatives. There were seven women out of the one hundred and twenty Knesset members in this era. Due to the strong influence of religious parties in this Knesset, when female parliamentarians did advocate for issues involving women's rights they were often ignored. Additionally, the drive to capture the religious votes caused Labor and Likud to take a step back from positions supporting women's rights. Furthermore, the newly formed government contained no women at all. Although no women occupied a position in the government itself, Shoshana Arbeli-Almozlino of the Labor party was selected to be the chairperson of the Economics Committee. While this was partially taken as proof of women's advancement, it only occurred after much protest around the fact that no women were included in the government. For this reason, her selection is often seen as a strategic move to soften the lack of women's inclusion in the government.