Addressing the Knesset assembly on Wednesday, MK Menachem Eliezer Mozes (United Torah Judaism) blasted the Israeli education system and demands haredi schools be required to adhere to the Education Ministry's core curriculum while Arab schools in Jerusalem are allowed to use the often incitement-filled Palestinian Authority curriculum.
"The Education Ministry maintains a close eye on the haredi school system. They closely examine their schedules. Any violation of the rules of the [Education Ministry] supervisors leads to an invalidation of the [school's] license and its closure."
"But then when it comes to education in eastern Jerusalem does the supervision just disappear? Why can't they [also] be under serious supervision?"
Mozes went on to say that while haredi schools are now being confronted by demands from secular political leaders in the opposition, such as Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), to fully conform with the Education Ministry's curriculum, Arab schools in Jerusalem were exempted from the Israeli curriculum and supervision – despite being entirely funded by Israel.
"In eastern Jerusalem there are 175 schools paid for by the Education Ministry. Since the Oslo Accords, Israel agreed to teach eastern Jerusalem students using the Palestinian Authority's curriculum, paid for 100% with Education Ministry funds. And not just any funding; there are some 600 new classrooms built or under construction for these students. What's more, the Supreme Court obligated the Treasury [Department] to acquire private land to build the schools, something that doesn't happen anywhere else in the country."
While Education Ministry authorities closely watch haredi schools, Mozes asserted, they have turned a blind eye to rampant anti-Israel incitement and calls for violence in the Arab school system in eastern Jerusalem.
"In these schools they distribute horrendous weekly briefs [from the schools to parents], with illustrations of children holding swords; sometimes they convey the message "slaughter the Jew". They teach the 'Nakba' [reference to Israeli Independence Day as a 'disaster']. They argue for Holocaust denial... and all this in schools funded by the Education Ministry."