The worst education minister in the history of Israel

Naftali Bennett served for a long time as Minister of Education, leaving the system far behind. A not-so-surprising and not so impressive chord with the Mitch-ups, as it turned out again this week, is not the worst thing about Bennett's tenure, but he gives her the right colors.

Bennett entered the Education Ministry in 2015 without any understanding of education, and in fact did not want to be there. He had just closed matters with the army over the tunnels in Gaza, and he was already in a new tunnel, holding both hands and not letting go. The authority of the Minister of Education in Israel is more or less absolute, according to the State Education Law. Bennett spent every ounce of the authority given to him to turn the system into a field of experimentation. His grave actions were expressed everywhere in the ministry, but I will begin with values ​​because of their great importance.

The State Education Law also contains the goals of education, for example: "to be lovers of man" (section 1); "To strive for peace and tolerance between people and peoples" (Article 2); "Strengthen the power of judgment and criticism" (Article 7). Bennett, in accordance with the worldview he came to education with, promoted contradictory values. As a proponent of the values ​​of oppression, exclusion, and narrow nationalistic thinking, he systematically and systematically undermined the values ​​of state education. To his credit stood his self-confidence and smugness.

He tried as hard as he could to censor state education when he took off a play, once he broke a book, and then passed a law against Breaking the Silence, an organization of soldiers. He dismissed people from the office who disliked him and systematically replaced them from the Hamam, although the religious-religious and ultra-Orthodox are only one-third of the entire system, while Bennett was one of the most extreme of his views against refugees and migrant workers without compassion. "On October 6, 2016, he told them at a convention at Binyanei Ha'uma:" We must give our souls so that Judea and Samaria will be part of the sovereign State of Israel ... We have to act today, and we must give our lives. "Trumpeldor.

But the main legacy of Bennett lies in the following three themes. First place: "Mathematics 5". In order to promote his mathematical obsession, the minister lowered the stature of all other professions, teachers and students. This is about 7/8 of the total system, and this injury will not soon be forgotten. Second, the intimidation of teachers and principals in terms of nurturing educational issues that are contrary to their nationalist positions ("a lesson in silencing" was called Channel 10). And in third place: damage to the academy in two stages - initially through the ethical code - which was intended to reduce the freedom and independence - which Bennett could not deliver; And then turned the Council for Higher Education into a disbanded and weak body.

On the other hand are subjects that, despite their great importance, Bennett did not touch at all. The first and largest is - educational thinking includes: Where should the Israeli education system turn in 2019. Bennett passed various daily agendas: Judaism, English, Oriental (Bitton Committee), "Values" and more, each of which declared: "The most important!" But none of them is systemic and long-term. In this framework, the defaults in the matter of matriculation examinations are also included, which no one once again examined. He did not grant autonomy to schools, except for those who themselves took a measure of initiative and innovation. Instead, he continued to harass managers and teachers through bureaucracy and form overload.

If Bennett's only success, as it turns out, is the addition of a kindergarten assistant - he has won the title title.