News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Chairman Zevulun Orlev of the Knesset Education Committee said Monday that "uncharacteristically, the education committee supports the strike of the Zionist-religious education system if the budget cut is not restored." The head of the Zionist-Religious Education Forum institutions declared a strike starting next Sunday over what Orlev said amounted to a 90 percent cut in funding. It is felt that other Zionist-religious institutions will follow suit in a show of solidarity.

Speaking at an emergency meeting of the committee following the budget cut, Orlev said, "During my 30 years in the public sector, I have never encountered a cut as sharp as this, and timed like this, a few months after the start of the school year." The committee expressed hope that government offices would find a solution to the problem and scheduled a meeting for Wednesday to monitor the situation.