The Knesset’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation voted Sunday, July 5, to oppose a bill by the Joint List that calls for expanding the goals of the public education law to include goals specifically intended to improve the Arab school system. “The law that regulates public education in Israel defines the public education system exclusively in Jewish terms and for Jewish students only,” the bill’s explanatory notes said. “Even though more than a fifth of all Israeli students study in the Arab education system, there is no law that defines its existence.”

Hadash MK Yousef Jabareen (Photo: Al Ittihad)

“The state education law establishes two separate, independent school systems, one state secular and one state religious, to meet the unique needs of the Jewish population,” the explanatory notes continue. “But no expression is given to a unique education system for the Arab minority, which constitutes a distinct group with a shared language and its own culture, history and national identity.”

The bill, sponsored by Hadash MK Yousef Jabareen, would amend the law to include several goals for the Arab education system, including deepening students’ Arab-Palestinian national identity; inculcating the value of dialogue with all Israelis; educating towards cooperation; and increasing the socio-economic level of the students by enhancing their ability to integrate into the labor market.