Following numerous debates and dozens of reservations, the Education, Culture and Sports Committee, chaired by MK Yosef Taieb (Shas), voted on Wednesday to approve for second and third readings the Bill to Prevent Employment of Teacher with Academic Degree from the Palestinian Authority (PA), sponsored by MKs Amit Halevi and Avichay Buaron (Likud), joined by a group of MKs.
In the bill, the sponsors wrote that in recent years there has been an increase in the number of Israeli citizens and residents who acquire an education in academic institutions in the PA, as well as in the number of graduates of these institutions who join the education system in Israel. They stated further that the studies in these institutions include, in many cases, antisemitic content and indoctrination aimed at negating the existence of the State of Israel, and severe incitement against it. The purpose of the bill, they wrote, is to “prevent the harmful influence of the Palestinian Authority that is hostile to the State of Israel and its values, and to preserve the educational values of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, as formulated in the State Education Law.”
Accordingly, the sponsors sought to amend the law and establish that a person holding an academic degree (bachelor’s degree) from a higher education institution in the PA, or from an institution that is affiliated with it, will be considered as not having the academic degree required for employment as a teacher in Israel. The bill includes transitional provisions according to which the law will not apply to those already employed as teachers. Additionally, anyone who has already completed an academic degree in the PA or part of it (one academic year or more) may be employed in the education system, provided they obtain a teaching certificate from a teacher training institution in Israel within two years.
During the deliberations, the committee’s legal advisor, Attorney Tami Sela, pointed out constitutional difficulties and explained: “Legislation that infringes on rights such as freedom of occupation must have a proper and proportional purpose, and it must be based on factual grounds — and no sufficient factual basis was presented in the discussions for the bill. We heard the position of the professional bodies on the pedagogical purpose, but we did not hear support for the sweeping argument that anyone who studied in academic institutions in the Palestinian Authority negatively influences students. Moreover, the purpose of the bill – and there was broad agreement on its importance and usefulness – could be achieved in more proportional ways.”
In one of the debates, Committee Chair MK Taieb said “We will not accept that people who absorbed hatred of Jews while studying in the Palestinian Authority, in a place that encourages terror, will teach our children, including in the Arab sector, because they are no less important.” MK Buaron said: “This law is critical in order to stop the next October 7, and this is not an exaggeration, because currently thousands of teachers teaching in Israel’s schools were trained in the Palestinian Authority and act as its emissaries in the education system of Israel’s Arabs, with full funding from the Education Ministry. We are stopping that with this law.”
In the deliberations, MK Youssef Atauna (Hadash-Ta’al) expressed his objection to the bill, arguing that it infringes on freedom of occupation. “One cannot say that whoever studies there is a ticking bomb,” he said. “The purpose of the law is not educational. This is racist legislation that is meant to harm the Negev and east Jerusalem.” MK Halevi replied: “Freedom of occupation isn’t related to this bill, it only deals with compatibility.” MK Halevi said that a teacher who had studied in the PA was a “persona non grata, educationally speaking, and is not suitable to teach in Israel.”
Rahat Mayor Talal Alkernawi said, “In my city there are 2,500 teachers. If this law passes, what do you want — unemployment? That we will go back to 30%–40% unemployment?”
MK Yasmin Fridman (Yesh Atid) demanded to know what alternatives the law proposes. “This legislation is a disgrace,” she said. “Malicious legislation. The purpose of your law is to prevent people from studying there, and you brought no solution. Otherwise, we are creating high unemployment that will increase terror. What will we do without teachers in the Negev? Where will the youth go — to more crime?” MK Buaron responded: “There are written plans. There are NIS 160 million in the [Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs] that the minister hasn’t released, but we are pressuring the Finance Ministry to release the money. It is in advanced discussions. The government decision will come right after the bill passes its second and third readings.” MK Fridman said: “If I see the funds being released, I will vote for the law, but the Minister of Finance is not budgeting or approving the backup plans you mention.”
According to data presented during the deliberations by the Knesset Research and Information Center, in the past decade, 30,339 teachers have begun to teach in Arab education; 11% of them hold an academic degree from the Palestinian Authority, representing an increase. Of the 3,447 teachers in question, 62% teach in east Jerusalem, 29% teach in Bedouin education in the Negev and 9% in other districts. In the current school year, approximately 6,700 teachers teach in east Jerusalem, and at least 60% of them hold a bachelor’s degree from a Palestinian academic institution.
