Though significant progress has been reported in talks between the teachers and the Finance Ministry, the large remaining gaps leave little room for optimism that the strike will end soon.
The strike by high school teachers, members of the Irgun union, is now in its sixth week, leaving idle 400,000 students. Teachers of the Histadrut union are not striking, but are following their colleagues' strike very closely.
A protest rally of teachers and supporters from around the country is scheduled for this Saturday evening at 8 PM at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv.
On Friday morning, a human chain of teachers formed on Emek Refarim Blvd. in Jerusalem; dozens of teachers are planning to hold a Kabbalat Shabbath prayer service Friday evening at their protest tent outside the Prime Minister's office. Other events were held on Wednesday and Thursday: Some 150 high school students, together with teachers and parents, blocked an intersection on the Nazareth-Afula highway in protest of the education crisis. In Jerusalem, dozens of teachers protested outside the government complex, while hundreds of high school students marched and blocked traffic in solidarity with their teachers in Tel Aviv. In Rehovot, 300 teachers protested in the streets, carrying black coffins in a mock "funeral" of Israeli education. "We won't let them bury our education," some of their signs read.
Finance Minister Roni Bar-On came out to greet the protesting teachers in Jerusalem, though he showed no willingness to compromise. He said he would be willing to show up, if invited, at the Saturday night protest.
A majority of the Knesset, 64 MKs, have signed a petition initiated by MK Eli Gabbai (National Religious Party) calling upon Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to personally intervene to help bring an end to the strike. The teachers have asked President Shimon Peres to similarly intervene.
Olmert did, in fact, make a public call for and to the strike on Thursday evening. He asked the teachers to return to work, and personally promised to hike their salaries significantly if they would agree to add hours to their schedules.
Histadrut Labor Union Chairman Ofer Eini met with Education Minister Yuli Tamir and Histadrut HaMorim leader Yossi Vasserman on Wednesday. Vasserman, who heads a non-striking union, has been attacked by members of his union who say that he agreed to "shameful employment conditions" in their name. On the other hand, his teachers will receive a one-time payment of between 100% and 180% of a monthly salary next month, in fulfillment of a previous agreement to compensate for the erosion in their salaries. The payment, which the Irgun teachers will not receive, was to have been made in February, but was advanced following a request by Vasserman. The striking teachers say the move is designed to divide the teachers, and that they deserve the payment as well.
Prime Minister Olmert met on Thursday with Tamir and Bar-On, as he did on Sunday, to hear an update of the negotiations. Bar-On explained that the teachers are currently being offered an 8.5% pay hike at the expense of future reforms, with discussions of added school hours and smaller classes continuing in parallel. Bar-On says he cannot offer more to the teachers, as this would cause other public sector employees to demand more as well.
The teachers say they demand not only pay hikes, but better conditions for teachers in general. They say they fear increasing privatization of Israel's education, leaving the wealthy with more options and the lower classes to fend for themselves with lower-quality public education. "We wish to save Israeli society," many teachers say.