Neve Midbar Regional Council Has Stopped Providing Educational Services for Children of Unrecognized Villages
- ACRI
- Jan 8
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 19
For years, the Neve Midbar Regional Council has been providing educational services to thousands of students who are residents of unrecognized villages under a contracting agreement between the council and the Ministry of Education. On December 18, 2025, the Regional Council announced that, due to an ongoing budgetary and operational dispute with the Ministry of Education it would stop running the educational institutions—dozens of schools and kindergartens. Many employees hired by the Regional Council, including kindergarten assistants and maintenance and cleaning workers, received termination notices. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has not responded or presented an alternative plan.
On January 7, 2026, ACRI appealed to the Ministry of Education and to the Neve Midbar Regional Council with a demand to ensure that educational services continue for students from the unrecognized villages. Attorneys Elza Bugnet and Abeer Jubran note in the appeal that the cessation of educational services would affect approximately 11,000 students aged 3-18. The appeal also emphasizes that the responsibility for providing educational services to children of the unrecognized villages rests first and foremost with the Ministry of Education. If the Council, which serves as a contractor, is not fulfilling its obligations, the Ministry of Education must immediately find an appropriate alternative solution.
A few days after the petition was filed, the Neve Midbar Regional Council resumed educational services for schools and kindergartens, including teaching aides, maintenance workers, administration, and security, and the children were able to return to their schools. The Regional Council and the Ministry of Education are negotiating renewing their contract, and the petition remains pending until a permanent solution is found.
ACRI's appeal, January 7, 2026 (Heb)
The appeal was written with the assistance of field researcher Musa Al-Huashla
