Hershkowitz and Shalom in Givat Shmuel
Hershkowitz and Shalom in Givat ShmuelIsrael News photo: Yoni Kempinski

The school year in Israel officially started on Thursday and MKs took the opportunity to tour schools around Israel and wish students a successful year.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Gideon Saar visited the Nofim elementary school in Migdal Haemek, where they met with the first graders.

Netanyahu spoke with the students and stressed to them the importance of reading books. Saar read to the children and told them that anyone who reads will get far in life.

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, accompanied by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, visited a new school that had opened in Jerusalem’s Har Homa neighborhood. Rivlin met with first-graders and was surprised to find that many preschoolers and first graders would like to become Knesset members.

“Each of you has a great future,” Rivlin told the students. “The president, prime minister, ministers and all the MKs ​​were once first graders. Every accomplishment starts by acquiring knowledge. Strive for greatness and you will become great.”

Arutz Sheva met up with Science Minister Rabbi Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz and Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, who came to the newly-opened AMIT Ulpana in Givat Shmuel, a computerized high school for religious girls.

Hershkowitz and Shalom came to greet and welcome the ninety seventh grade students of the new school.

Science Minister Prof. Herskowitz said during the ceremony that he is glad to hear about the Ulpana’s commitment to science excellence.

“Israel’s special advantage is its human capital, and so we must encourage students with aptitudes in the sciences and arts to develop their skills and talents and achieve their highest,” Hershkowitz zaid.

Minister Shalom told students that education is the basis for success in life and that without quality education it is very hard to succeed. Minister Shalom congratulated the students, “You have been granted the privilege of a new and advanced Ulpana. If you take advantage of the school’s potential, you will see blessing in your toil.”

“It’s a very big excitement, because the new ulpana expresses the great growth of the religious community in Givat Shmuel,” Hershkowitz told Arutz Sheva. “The AMIT network has taken upon itself an outstanding new ulpana. I know the staff and they have a lot of experience. I think that it’s great news specifically for Givat Shmuel but also for the national religious public as a whole.”