Disqualifying Teachers with Degrees from the Palestinian Authority

Illustrative. East Jerusalem school. Photo: Ronit Sela, ACRI

On January 21, 2026, the Knesset passed the Law for the Prevention of Employment of Education Workers Who Hold an Academic Degree from an Institution in the Palestinian Authority (Legislative Amendments), 5785-2025. The law prohibits employing educators (teachers, principals, supervisors) in Israel's education system if they have an academic degree from an institution of higher education in the Palestinian Authority. The law applies both to students studying education and to students studying other subjects, such as Arabic, English, mathematics, history, early childhood education, special education, to teach in Israeli schools. It will not apply to those already employed in the education system or to students who have completed a full academic year. 

ACRI has opposed this legislation since it was first proposed. Attorney Tal Hassin argued that the law contains substantial constitutional flaws and that it harms the fundamental rights of tens of thousands of educators and students, residents and citizens of Israel. The law undermines the freedom of work, accessibility to higher education, the right to an education, the right to due process, and the right to dignity, and disregards the consequences for the Arab education system. The law is racist, and therefore illegitimate, as is one of a series of bills essentially designed to harm the Arab education system and Arab teachers and students. 

The assumption underlining the law is that every graduate of an academic institution in the Palestinian Authority has been subject to intense indoctrination against Israel, which will influence students. This has no basis in reality. The committee that discussed and promoted the bill was not presented with any reports, studies, or data indicating that teachers who graduated institutions in the Palestinian Authority have a harmful influence on their students. This is not for a lack of data: over the years, tens of thousands of educators who studied in the Palestinian Authority have been absorbed into Israel's education system. They teach in supervised educational institutions; the Ministry of Education examines the content being taught and monitors the quality of the teaching.  The Shin Bet even determined (during discussions on a different bill) that Arab teachers, and teachers from East Jerusalem in particular, are not a risk population. 

However, even if there were reasons for concern about harmful influences on students, there is no need for legislative amendments: the State Education Law and the Supervision of Schools Law already include a series of measures that the Director General of the Ministry of Education can take if convinced that a person seeking to integrate into the education system may adversely influence students. The Ministry of Education also already examines higher education institutions in the Palestinian Authority as a condition for recognizing degrees from there, and not every degree acquired in the West Bank is recognized in Israel. 

And so, the law does not allow the Director General of the Ministry of Education to investigate the facts and exercise discretion in individual cases, and there are more appropriate solutions to address the concerns underlying the law. The law also blocks the path of thousands of people who wish to earn higher education degrees and enter the labor market. There is, as mentioned previously, no evidence that the law offers any kind of benefit. Moreover, the law ignores the barriers facing Arabs in accessing higher education institutions in Israel, which cause many of them to turn to studies in the Palestinian Authority, as well as the fact that the integration of Arab society into the Israeli economy is one of the main engines of economic growth. The law also ignores the acute shortage of teachers in the education system. 

ACRI's appeal to the Education Committee, June 29, 2025 (Heb)