Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will probably either delay implementation of, or dismiss altogether, the conclusions of the Shochat Committee on higher education reform, according to "cabinet and academic sources" quoted in Haaretz Tuesday.

The report says that Olmert fears implementing the conclusions would lead to a renewal of the students' protests and weaken his government.

Failure to implement the reforms, however, would cause a strike from the other side of the equation. The Finance Ministry has said that if the cabinet does not approve the reforms, universities and colleges will not receive the budget increases promised them. The Committee of University Heads has announced that it will refuse to allow the academic year to begin without the increases.