Kisch promotes appointments to the Council for Higher Education before the elections, universities: 'This is a power grab'

Education Minister Yoav Kisch is advancing the appointment of three new members to the Council for Higher Education (CHE), two weeks before the elections and two months after five members resigned in protest of the gender segregation law. The Committee of University Heads calls it a "power grab" and claims the appointments are illegal.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch is advancing the appointment of three new members to the Council for Higher Education (CHE), two weeks before the Knesset elections. The move comes two months after five CHE members, including four academic representatives and one public representative, resigned in protest of the legislation of the gender segregation law in academia. The council remains with a depleted composition. Kisch approached the heads of higher education institutions requesting recommendations for candidates, from which three were advanced: Prof. Berta Schwartz (Nutritional Sciences, Peres Academic Center), Prof. Miri Weiss-Cohen (Software Engineering, Committee of College Heads), and Prof. Rachel Shraby (Sociology, Ashkelon Academic College). The appointments are for a period of six months, until the end of the current council's term in April 2027. Kisch claims the appointments are necessary to enable the council's proper functioning and that they do not affect the authority of the next minister. The Committee of University Heads responded that this is an illegal "power grab" that violates proper administration rules. The committee formally appealed to the minister and the Attorney General's office and has not yet received a response. The committee announced it intends to use all means at its disposal against the appointments.

Kisch promotes appointments to the Council for Higher Education before the elections, universities: 'This is a power grab'