Reached a settlement with the ministry of Education and therefore the students of the 47 schools in Israel who number 33,000 will return to school Monday the 28th of September after being on strike since the 1st of Septembe

Christian schools in Israel have been on strike since the beginning of the school year and did not open the academic year 2015-2016. They are protesting a decision by the Israeli government to shrink their funding, to a point that it became impossible for them to survive

a group of Arab academics, hereby express our support and solidarity with the demands of the “Private” schools in the Arab society in Israel as they strive to continue with their noble mission

So where does the Christian world stand in such moments? Does it stand with the brothers and sisters in the one body, or it turns a cold shoulder to the Arab Israeli brothers in Christ because of who is involved in this matter-the irreproachable state of Israel that should never be criticized?

we have decided on a series of protest steps starting with an open strike on the 1st of September and we assure you that we have not done this lightly but only after a long study and careful thinking. We will not back off until we receive our full rights. We will also hold several protests that will accompany the strike.

The Secretariat sees this meeting as a positive step that requires follow up with negotiations of working teams from the ministry in order to translate the discussion into actual work on the ground

The tract of negotiating is not bringing forth fruitful results. Consequently, the schools are moving toward starting a strike as a response to the steps imposed by the ministry of Education. No doubt these actions will make the lives of Christians in Israel very difficult.

President Rivlen has responded to the Christian Schools Secretariat call and appointed a meeting with the Minister of Education and the representatives of the Christian schools to be held with him in his residence the last week of this month, in an attempt to resolve the crisis. In the absence of a solution, the Christian schools will not open their doors on the first of September, and the scenario will be one of crisis within the Christian world.

A press release issued today by the Office of Christian Schools in Israel states that the ministry of Education has sent letters to several Christian schools in the last few days. In these letters the Ministry of Education threaten not to issue permits for these schools to open their doors, if these schools continue to collect tuition with sums that contradict the new regulations.

Baptist Ethicist Dr. David Gushee: “I continue to believe that contemporary Christian Zionism essentially trains its adherents to subordinate these core kingdom values to a politicized end-times theology. The result is harmful for everyone involved, including Israel.”