Education Minister Yoav Kish responded today (Monday) to the announcement by the principal of the Herzliya Gymnasium high school in Tel Aviv, Zeev Dageni, that he will close the educational institution on Wednesday and go out with his students to protest against the firing of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.
Kish said: "Zeev Degani is a criminal. His decision to shut down school and send students to a political demonstration is a serious and direct violation of the Compulsory Education Law. The education system is not a nobody, and we will not allow schools to be turned into arenas of political struggle.".
""Because of this, Degani and the board of directors of the Herzliya Gymnasium have been summoned for an urgent hearing on Wednesday. If the school does indeed sit down, the budgets that the Herzliya Gymnasium receives from the education system will be stopped immediately. Schools are places for learning, not stages for political propaganda. Leave politics to the politicians.".
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Degani responded to the attack against him by the Minister of Education in an interview with Galei Tzahal and clarified: "We will allow teachers and students who are interested to go to Jerusalem, we are not suspending school - there is no reason to summon me to a hearing; I was ashamed that the Minister of Education is intimidating and threatening in the media.".
Earlier today, Gadni convened the teaching staff and announced the cancellation of Wednesday's school day, in order to allow students and teachers to participate in a demonstration in Jerusalem against the firing of the head of the Shin Bet.
He said the move was intended to protest against what he calls "a war on the future of democracy in Israel," and he was able to garner support from other schools.
Degani explained: "The school, named after Herzl, is committed to the values of democracy, humanism and human rights, and cannot remain indifferent to what it perceives as a move by the Prime Minister to turn the country into a dictatorship.
""At moments like these, studying math and history is not the priority, but the struggle for the future of the country. The students will learn in their own way during the demonstration.".
The president of Tel Aviv University distributed a scathing letter to academic staff members, declaring that if the dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet goes through, he will sit in and lead protest demonstrations. He called on academic staff and senior business leaders to join him in this movement, as part of a broad opposition to what he sees as an attack on the independence of state institutions.
