Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski is asking Disapora Jews to donate money for Arab schools in the eastern part of the city to prevent students from leaving overcrowded classrooms and enrolling in schools with an orientation in favor of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. "It should be a national imperative that every East Jerusalem child has access to a state school," Mayor Lupolianski said.

His first target is the Ras al-Amud neighborhood, where Jews returned to live more than a decade ago. The mayor said that Jerusalem has the largest Arab population of any city in Israel and that the capital must provide them with proper education. He added that most of the Arabs in eastern Jerusalem are "peace-seeking and loyal, but given the state of education, we have no assurance that this will be so in the future."