Swedish furniture giant IKEA found itself at the centre of a class-action lawsuit in Israel after omitting women in an advertising booklet.

The multi-million dollar suit, filed in the Jerusalem District Court, claims IKEA practiced gender discrimination. It was filed by Hannah Katsman, a modern Orthodox woman along with the Israel Religious Action Center, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

At the centre of their claim is a controversial booklet published by IKEA that included photos of couches, lamps, men with long side locks, and smiling boys - but nary a woman in sight.

'The total exclusion of women and girls from the catalogue sends a serious and difficult message that women have no value and there is something wrong with their presence, even in the family-home space depicted in the catalogue,' the suit read.

'The total exclusion of women and girls from the catalogue sends a serious and difficult message that women have no value,' the lawsuit read

The furniture giant included photos of couches, lamps, men with long side locks, and smiling boys - but nary a woman in sight. It is the target of a class-action suit for gender discrimination

If the suit is successful, IKEA will be required to pay compensation to nearly 10,000 ultra-Orthodox women estimated to have been harmed by its actions. Minimum damages add up to 1,500 shekels (£310) for each woman represented in the suit, Haaretz reported.

The catalogue was aimed at ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as Haredi, some of whom follow a policy of gender segregation. It is common for advertisements in the community to remove images of women and girls.

The recent suit against IKEA comes at the heels of another high-profile case involving Israeli Orthodox women. In 2018, plaintiffs in another class-action suit won damages against an ultra-Orthodox radio station that refused to put women on the air.

'The conventional wisdom is that ultra-Orthodox women are fine with being excluded,' the director of the Israel Religious Action Center, Orly Erez Likhovsky, told Haaretz.

'What we have learned from these cases is that that is a complete myth.'

IKEA's headquarters in Sweden responded with an apology, saying it had not been aware of the special catalogue. The store operates four locations in Israel, with a fifth slated to open in Jerusalem.

"We realise that people are upset about this and that the publication does not live up to what IKEA stands for," said a spokesperson.