On February 14 2024, ACRI sent legal correspondence (Hebrew) to the Minister of Education, together with Kav LaOved, demanding an end to the heavy pressure exerted on teachers to return to the city, contrary to the government's position and the announcement by the Mayor of Sderot, according to which the city's residents will be able to remain in the places to which they were evacuated until the end of the current school year. We have been informed that that teaching staff are required to immediately announce whether they are returning to the city or not, otherwise their salaries will be cut and they will not be able to be accepted into temporary work frameworks in the places they have been evacuated or vacated to.
In the correspondence, Attorney Maskit Bendel argued that this provision is unreasonable and illegal. "We understand the need to provide a solution for children whose parents chose to stay in the city or return to it," the letter said, "but providing this response by requiring others, who were evacuated by government decision and are entitled to keep themselves safe by not returning to an area at risk, is unacceptable." We argued that such a demand has no basis, violates the fundamental right to freedom of occupation and constitutes an unacceptable application of pressure. We suggested other ways to provide an educational solution for children returning to Sderot, such as continuing distance learning via Zoom or encouraging interested teachers to teach in Sderot through grants.