The Labor Court has issued a back-to-work order, effective after the Chanukah vacation, to striking high school teachers. The court also told the government and the teachers' union to continue negotiations during the vacation and try to settle differences that have shut down the country's high schools for six weeks.

The teachers' union called the decision a "black day for the courts and for education" in Israel. The union charged that the government confused the court and repeated claims that the government has refused to negotiate at the same time that it accused the teachers of the same tactic.