A Knesset staffer was barred from entering Israel's parliament last week because her dress was deemed too short to meet the Knesset dress code, joining a similar case that was reported on Monday.

Knesset member Eli Alalouf's parliamentary adviser and spokeswoman, Moria Silfen, was forced to go home and change into longer attire by the Knesset's security guards.

Other women have come forward claiming that they have been denied access to the parliament building over their dress, following the news that a parliamentary aide to Knesset member Merav Michaeli was delayed in attempting to enter the Knesset building because of her attire.In the case of Michaeli's aide, Shaked Hasson, she was allowed into the building on Sunday after Michaeli herself interceded.

Last Wednesday, Silfen reportedly was made to wait about 40 minutes at the entrance to the Knesset after two male security guards examined her attire and decided that she did not meet the building dress code. The guards suggested that she put on pants that had been "cast aside" there if she was to be allowed in the building, Silfen said.

She refused and instead went home, changed clothes and then returned to the Knesset and was allowed to enter. Two hours later, Silfen said, she received a call from the head of building security, who she said asked her not to cause similar "mental anguish" again.

Open gallery view Shaked Hasson, the parliamentary aide denied entry to the Knesset on December 11, 2016 on grounds her dress is too short. Credit: Olivier Fitusi

Speaking to Haaretz she countered that it was she that had suffered mental anguish. "I missed a critical committee session that I needed to attend and was sent home in disgrace because the length of my dress didn't suit them. I had been dressed entirely appropriately. I had worn the same dress dozens of times in the past when coming to the Knesset." The Knesset dress code, she claimed "cannot be measured in centimeters," she added. The code, she acknowledged, bans short dresses and skirts but does not provide detail, she said.

The Knesset spokesman said in response that following the media coverage of the issue, the Knesset director general, Albert Sakharovich, convened a meeting Monday with professional staff and ordered that the Knesset dress code be enforced with sensitivity and common sense and what the spokesman called "an effort as much as possible to avoid hurt feelings." In addition, he made it clear that, when necessary, women guards should address the matter with women seeking to enter the building.

The complaints that have surfaced will be looked into, but it would be "a distortion to present isolated cases as if this involved 'modest dress,'" the spokesman said, adding that the Knesset dress code is lenient compared to parliaments in other countries. "The heart of the matter is really proper dress for admittance to the Knesset that will maintain the proper dignity of those coming to the Knesset."