This research aims to unpack the politics of gender equality and inclusion in municipal councils, focusing on the patterns of women’s political practices; the institutional impact of the national and local cultures on the organizational cultures. It is based on action-research and mixed-method format. Eight municipal councils in small and medium size Jewish, Arab and Jewish-Arab towns in the Northern district participate in the study. Initial findings suggest that women's meaningful involvement in the municipal strategic decision-making is partial. There is a significant gap between the declared strive for gender equality and inclusion and women's actual influence in decision-making. This gap looms particularly large in the Arab towns. The mechanisms of exclusion and potential avenues of counteracting them are discussed.