The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved, despite the opposition of the Attorney General, the bill to prevent the employment of teachers with academic degrees from the Palestinian Authority in Israel.
The bill will be put to a vote in a preliminary reading in the Knesset plenum this week. The proposed law amends the School Supervision Law and the Education Ordinance, so that the Director General of the Ministry of Education can refuse to employ teaching staff whose academic degrees were obtained in institutions in the Palestinian Authority.
At the same time, a transitional provision was proposed that would allow those who already work in the education system or who completed their studies before the law came into effect to complete their studies in Israel as a condition for continued employment.
MK Amit Halevi (Likud) said that "this law is another step in the war on terrorist infrastructure, primarily the educational infrastructure. When we complete the legislation, anyone who was trained in PA institutions that preach the delegitimization of Israel, the demonization of the Jewish people, and the glorification of terrorist acts will not be able to be a teacher in Israel. He could be welcomed today in Tehran and Ramallah, but not in our schools, not anymore."
MK Avihai Boaron (Likud) added, "The law in question and the issue it addresses have been discussed for many months by me in the subcommittee for the education system in East Jerusalem. Several months ago, we already stated that out of 6,720 teachers, about 5,000 teachers studied at universities in the Palestinian Authority. A thousand of those 5,000 are not citizens of Israel at all and are not even residents of Jerusalem, but are residents of the Palestinian Authority and citizens of the Palestinian Authority."
He asked, "So how can it be that they, like all those 5,000 teachers who are graduates of the PA, receive salaries from the Ministry of Education? From taxpayer money. Actually from us? This is exactly what we came to fix with this law. All teachers who teach in Israel and earn a living from the Ministry of Education will be graduates of Israeli institutions or those that have friendly relations with Israel. Certainly not of the terrorist universities in the Palestinian Authority."