Ran Erez, the chairman of the teachers’ union, announced late on Saturday night that there will be a strike in Israel’s high schools on Sunday, the first day of the new school year.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch said after the announcement, "After the emergency meeting and the nighttime negotiations where I laid out another compromise outline, I came to the conclusion that the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, as well as Ran Erez, want the strike. I am sorry that they do not understand the magnitude of the hour. The State of Israel is at war and they are in an ego battle, hurting the students and teachers. Both failed to rise to the occasion and we are all paying the price. I hope that they will put their egos aside and we will come to an agreement as soon as possible."
According to the data of the Ministry of Education, 514,000 students will study in Israel’s high schools this year. Not all of them will be affected by the strike.
Due to the security situation, the strike will not be in effect in the schools in southern and northern Israel. The local authorities excluded in the south are: Sdot Negev, Shaar HaNegev, Sderot, Ofakim, Netivot, Merhavim, Shikma school in Kibbutz Yad Mordechai and the Eshkol Regional Council.
In the north, the following authorities are excluded: Kabri, Western Galilee, Nofey Golan and Majdal Shams.