Occupied Jerusalem- Israel is witnessing these days a worsening crisis in the education apparatus, which was manifested in massive protests, a mass threat to resign, and a widespread disruption of the educational process against the background of the government’s decision to reduce the wages of workers in the educational sector, whose number is estimated at 250 thousand employees, in an attempt to reduce the escalating deficit due to the continuous war expenses on Gaza.
The primary salary for new teachers in Israel is about 2490 dollars per month. Venerable teachers can achieve almost twice this amount, but only after 30 years of work.
This crisis in the education apparatus is one of the direct repercussions of the broader economic crisis facing Israel, as a result of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip and the enormous financial burden it imposes on the public budget.
With the decline in popular support for the austerity decisions of the Israeli government in an effort to cover up the budget deficit due to excessive spending on the war, fears of these tensions increase to other civil sectors, which may double the effects of the economic and political crisis experienced by Israel.
A deficit in the Israeli budget
In 2024, Israel recorded a financial deficit of 6.9% of GDP, which is the highest in more than a quarter of a century, with the exception of 2020 during the Corona pandemic, according to the economic newspaper “Globes”.
Although the deficit was less than the official expectations of 7.7%, this decrease is partly due to the provision of financial transactions from 2024 to 2025, such as buying vehicles to avoid high taxes, according to a report issued by the Bank of Israel (the central bank).
According to the Israeli Central Bank, the cost of continuous military operations on Gaza is estimated at about 150 to 200 million shekels per day, or up to one billion shekels per week (the dollar equals 3.58 forms), and it constitutes additional pressure on the state budget for 2025.
In order, the Ministry of Finance warned of the possibility of the deficit to rise to 4.9% or more if the escalation continues, which may lead the government to implement a new round of cutting spending in various government ministries, headed by the Ministry of Education.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qddwy9saffm
Lower
The crisis started in the education apparatus when the Israeli Ministry of Finance decided to reduce government salaries by 3.3%, as part of austerity measures imposed by the repercussions of the war, which is expected to cost the state treasury up to 250 billion shekels (67.5 billion dollars) by the end of 2025, according to the Yisrael Hume newspaper.
In a first protest step, the Teachers Syndicate announced a warning strike at the beginning of the week, which included a delay in the start of school working hours and the lack of attendance of thousands of teachers until late in the morning, while hundreds of schools and kindergartens closed their doors completely during the week.
In the face of the expansion of the protests, the Israeli Ministry of Finance reached an agreement with the Teachers Syndicate to reduce salaries by less than 0.95% instead of 3.3%, and this reduction applies from May to the end of December 2025.
However, these concessions – according to the Haaretz newspaper – did not receive wide acceptance among the teachers, who considered that the union, headed by Jaffa bin David, did not represent their real interests, and continued their protests in informal ways, including providing collective medical reports to justify the absence.
Collective resignations
The Israeli Ministry of Education estimated that between 17 thousand to 20 thousand teachers, or about 10% of the total workforce in the education corps submitted satisfactory reports, in a protest step aimed at continuing the strike without a direct legal violation.
Nevertheless, it was not precisely the number of schools that have remained closed in the country, which are estimated at hundreds of schools. In Tel Aviv alone, 218 kindergarten and more than 50 primary and preparatory schools were closed, which reflects the breadth of paralysis in the educational system, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Despite the issuance of a decision by the District Labor Court obligating teachers to return to teaching, the protesters insisted on escalation, as organized groups of teachers announced their intention to implement a group of collective resignations in the event that the dialogue is not resumed with government representatives.
A statement issued by the protest leaders stated that “the education crew in Israel escalates its steps. Whoever harms teachers, will be deprived of education,” a statement issued by the protest leaders said.
The angry teachers are calling for completely canceling wages, especially in light of the continued exclusion of the Haredi schools from this decision, which exacerbated the sense of discrimination and injustice among the teachers in public schools, according to the Israeli Channel 12.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6xgpix9wn4
A worsening crisis
In this context, journalist Yarden Ben Gal – the editor of the labor market in the “The Marker” newspaper – believes that the temporary agreement on “teachers’ disease days” does not address the roots of the worsening crisis in the education system.
And considered that the reduction of salaries was nothing but a spark that blew up a protest that has been fermented for a long time due to deep structural problems, noting that the waiver of the deduction of 500 shekels ($ 135) per month will not be sufficient to save a sector that is collapsed.
According to Bin Gall, the agreement between the Ministries of Education and Finance and the Teachers Syndicate, which requires a redistribution of 3.3% reduction through items other than direct wages, came very late and weak. Despite the reduction of salaries to 1% and reducing bonuses such as seniority and promotion, many teachers have been unhappy.
She said that real economic damage is not limited to wages, but extends to price rises and other reductions, which deepens the feeling of prejudice among workers in the education corps.
The collapse of confidence in the country
In an article entitled “The government is sowing chaos, the struggle of teachers warns of an upcoming storm”, Tzipi Brand, a member of the Tel Aviv Municipal Council, wrote in the Haaretz newspaper, that the crisis of the aggravating education apparatus in light of the war on Gaza reflects a broader collapse in the political and social system in Israel since the seventh of October.
Brand criticized the Benjamin Netanyahu government, which – despite its legally election – seeks to dismantle state institutions and exploit the popular mandate to impose a narrow agenda based on a strict religious vision that does not represent the majority of Israelis, as described, accusing them of giving up the prisoners, marginalizing the professional bureaucracy, and sacrificing the public for political survival.
She pointed out that the agreements that were concluded with the teachers were made in a “different era” in which the government was actually responsible for its citizens, respecting the law and the judiciary, and the soldiers are sent to battles only when the goal is patriotic, not political.
In its opinion, the struggle of the teachers is not only a sectoral crisis, but also an early warning of the collapse of confidence in the state and its institutions.
