The Knesset plenary approved tonight (Wednesday), in second and third readings, the bill that states that graduates of Palestinian Authority educational institutions will not be able to teach in the Israeli education system.
The law stipulates that holders of academic degrees from higher education institutions in the Palestinian Authority will not be employed as teachers, principals, or supervisors and will be considered as lacking the required academic qualifications for employment.
In the explanatory note for the proposal, it was written: "Academic training in the Palestinian Authority takes place in an environment that fosters incitement against the State of Israel and does not align with the principles and values upon which education in the State of Israel is based. Therefore, the Knesset Education, Culture, and Sports Committee believes that this training is not suitable for educational workers and teachers in Israel and could have a harmful impact on students."
MK Amit Halevi, who submitted the bill, said: "The situation before the law was passed was a real disaster - we, with our own hands in the Israeli education system, are nurturing a generation of terrorists. As if it weren't enough that these children absorb jihadist hatred of Israel from the media, social networks, social organizations, and mosques - they are also receiving in Israeli schools heavy doses of education against the state by teachers trained in terrorism by Palestinian Authority institutions."
"This situation is unacceptable, it contradicts our basic responsibility to the safety of our citizens and also to the rights of the students. My colleagues and I had the privilege and the duty to legislate this, and thank God, it will end starting tomorrow morning. Graduates of Palestinian Authority institutions may be able to be teachers in Damascus or Kabul, but not in our schools," he added.
MK Avihai Boaron, who is also a co-signer of the bill, emphasized that "Out of approximately 6,700 teachers teaching in Jerusalem, about 4,000 are graduates of institutions in the Palestinian Authority, the same authority that funds terrorism, educates for terrorism, and encourages terrorism. Those teachers who teach in East Jerusalem, the Negev, and the Galilee, act as emissaries of the authority, aiming to strengthen its grip on Jerusalem and the State of Israel. This is a ticking time bomb that, thank God, we are dismantling today. This law is crucial to prevent the next October 7, and this is not an exaggeration."
"We must understand that those thousands of teachers who teach in schools in Israel and were trained in the Palestinian Authority are effectively its emissaries in the education system for Israeli Arabs, with funding from the State of Israel. And this is exactly what we are stopping with this law," he concluded.