Senior university officials who are members of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education protested against what they call "the intervention of the education minister" in the committee's work.
On Wednesday, a committee meeting was held in which several professors read a letter of protest against the approval given to the opening of the Faculty of Medicine at Ariel University.
They argued that "Bennett's intervention in the professional work is done almost openly, and it is precisely against this background that the professional discussions must be in order, and it is important that the public know that this is not the case."
This protest was a step that was considered to be very blatant and very unusual, and there was an argument about the very reading of the letter. The letter states: "Recently, the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education made decisions in accelerated and improper proceedings, and even by bypassing the committee. These decisions were accepted without exhaustive academic and professional discussion and contrary to accepted procedures. These decisions derive from motivations which, in our opinion, derive from extraneous considerations that erode the high standards that characterize the decisions of the Planning and Budgeting Committee, a situation that harms the values and needs of higher education."
"In contravention of accepted and established procedures for more than 15 years, the faculty's approval of the yeshiva agenda, many months in advance, was hastily introduced to prepare the next academic year's budget for approval of the budget a week later. It is inappropriate for such an important subject to be discussed hastily. We are well aware of the need to increase the number of medical students in Israel, but a hasty decision may actually spoil more than good," the professors who wrote the letter claimed.
The organization said in response that there are no political interventions in the committee's work and its decisions are made on a practical basis and in favor of the higher education system. "
The committee also said that said that the process in the decision on Ariel University was impeccable. "In democratic processes decisions are made by majority - and the minority must respect the decisions, even if it does not agree to them."
Officials close to Education Minister Bennett said in response to the letter that "Bennett broke the cartel of the universities and it is no surprise that they are wailing about it. For years, the universities operated like a closed guild, funded by tens of billions in taxes, but accustomed to dictating everything for itself. Thus we received bankruptcy and huge pensions at the Hebrew University, the emptying of faculties for society and the humanities - all at the expense of Israeli citizens. Now someone else [made a decision on how to spend the taxpayer money]."
"Bennett did not give in to the dictates of the guild and led his doctoral dissertation to the IDC and the Faculty of Medicine at Ariel University. Bennett will continue to work for higher education in Israel and will not yield to the dictates of any guild," they said.