The Heads of Universities Committee and members of the senior academic staff expressed concern on Sunday over the chances of an ongoing strike to succeed in the near future.  The head of Bar Ilan University, Professor Moshe Kaveh, said the demands put forth by the senior academic staff are just, but that the strike puts the semester at risk.  “The divide between the staff and the Finance Ministry is enormous, this needs three months of negotiations,” Kaveh said.

The head of the senior academic staff, Professor Tzvi HaCohen, said that Finance Ministry Director of Wages Eli Cohen had refused to meet with the striking professors, and had said at the beginning of the strike two weeks ago that he did not care if the strike lasted for an entire semester.  Officials who have met with the professors support their demand for a salary increase, he said, but are powerless to approve the necessary funding.