Around 350 students and professors took part in a protest on Thursday afternoon near the homes of President Shimon Peres and Education Minister Yuli Tamir in Tel Aviv.  Students called on Peres to “grant a pardon to higher education” and “let us return to our studies.”  Five students were arrested while demonstrating near Tamir’s home.

Professors have been on strike for several weeks and are demanding compensation for the decrease in value of their salaries due to inflation.  Several professors quoted in Haaretz on Thursday threatened to quit if the National Labor Court ordered them to return to work.