Israeli feminists welcomed a Supreme Court ruling they say will help enforce equal pay laws for men and women.

The ruling, issued May 17, requires employers paying different wages to men and women to prove it is not due to gender discrimination. The decision stemmed from a case of a woman who was earning 70 percent of the wage of a male colleague at a hardware store chain. Her employer claimed this was because she requested a lower salary when applying.

The court ruled this was not sufficient reason for the pay gap.

Figures from 2009 show Israeli women earn about two-thirds as much as Israeli men. — ap