This week, government discussions in 1948 were declassified, exposing the roots of discrimination in Israel’s education system that still persists today.
Other minutes from this period show Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett saying that the treatment of the Arab minority is a complete failure.
“Every Hebrew child in a classroom costs 27.7 liras on average…according to education standards among Arabs, each one of their children costs 15 liras.” These were the words of the first Minister of Education and Culture and later Israel’s third president, Zalman Shazar, during a concluding discussion held by the government of the nascent state in 1949, ahead of legislation on mandatory schooling.
In response, Finance Minister Eliezer Kaplan warned about such a discriminatory attitude: “How can we at this point, while establishing a law regulating education, determine two levels of schooling?” he wondered. “The government decided on equal wages for Arab laborers, and I want to understand and know what you’re suggesting, how will this work? Did the
— source Jews For Justice For Palestinians | Dec 12, 2021