2008 Woodie Awards
Israel Saga Still Unresolved
Minister Livnta Sends Pres. Joel Inconclusive Letter
Matthew Cherney
Issue date: 3/29/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Following two months of belabored deliberation concerning the Israeli Ministry of Education's decision not to recognize Yeshiva's undergraduate degrees in accordance with its governmental pay scale, a March 7 letter from Education Minister Limor Livnat to Yeshiva President Richard M. Joel revealed that a full resolution has yet to be reached.
A mid-January 2005 report in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz found that a number of new immigrants from the United States who had earned bachelor degrees from institutions awarding credits for study in Israeli yeshivot/seminaries were not being paid by the government as per their education. Within days of the news, Yeshiva administrators, including President Joel who was in Israel at the time, jumpstarted a public relations campaign to have the policy reversed.
While changes to this policy have yet to be set in stone, Howard Weisband, Senior Adviser on Israel Affairs, assured The Commentator that tremendous progress has been made. "[Limor Livnat] and the Deputy Minister [Rabbi Michael Melchior] are on public record as saying that the Ministry will correct the matter," he said.
In her letter (reprinted here on page 17 and available on Yeshiva's website), Minister Livnat committed the Ministry to deciding on a solution by the end of March 2005.
Minister Livnat also informed President Joel that those degrees received before the current situation will immediately be revalidated. "The Ministry will recognize degrees awarded by Yeshiva University to the few graduates who thus far have had difficulty having their degrees officially certified for salary purposes," she wrote.
Her comments, however, did not address the question of how the State of Israel would deal with Yeshiva degrees in the future. The letter did assert that a complete report and evaluation would be ready by the end of March, that would "decide on a comprehensive solution whereby all Yeshiva University degrees will be certified by the Ministry."
Mr. Weisband reiterated Yeshiva's strong faith in the Ministry's staff and decision making. "I have been working with Prof. Yaacov Katz, who is Minister Livnat's appointee as Chairman of the Ministry's Degree Assessment Committee, and he understands the importance of the issue," he said. Weisband also emphasized the relative quickness with which the issue is being handled within the Israeli government. In a recent Wilf Campus Town Hall meeting, President Joel assured concerned students and faculty that Yeshiva's S. Daniel Abraham Israel Program will not be making any changes.
A mid-January 2005 report in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz found that a number of new immigrants from the United States who had earned bachelor degrees from institutions awarding credits for study in Israeli yeshivot/seminaries were not being paid by the government as per their education. Within days of the news, Yeshiva administrators, including President Joel who was in Israel at the time, jumpstarted a public relations campaign to have the policy reversed.
While changes to this policy have yet to be set in stone, Howard Weisband, Senior Adviser on Israel Affairs, assured The Commentator that tremendous progress has been made. "[Limor Livnat] and the Deputy Minister [Rabbi Michael Melchior] are on public record as saying that the Ministry will correct the matter," he said.
In her letter (reprinted here on page 17 and available on Yeshiva's website), Minister Livnat committed the Ministry to deciding on a solution by the end of March 2005.
Minister Livnat also informed President Joel that those degrees received before the current situation will immediately be revalidated. "The Ministry will recognize degrees awarded by Yeshiva University to the few graduates who thus far have had difficulty having their degrees officially certified for salary purposes," she wrote.
Her comments, however, did not address the question of how the State of Israel would deal with Yeshiva degrees in the future. The letter did assert that a complete report and evaluation would be ready by the end of March, that would "decide on a comprehensive solution whereby all Yeshiva University degrees will be certified by the Ministry."
Mr. Weisband reiterated Yeshiva's strong faith in the Ministry's staff and decision making. "I have been working with Prof. Yaacov Katz, who is Minister Livnat's appointee as Chairman of the Ministry's Degree Assessment Committee, and he understands the importance of the issue," he said. Weisband also emphasized the relative quickness with which the issue is being handled within the Israeli government. In a recent Wilf Campus Town Hall meeting, President Joel assured concerned students and faculty that Yeshiva's S. Daniel Abraham Israel Program will not be making any changes.