A blow to Kisch: Attorney General ordered to publish national science exam data

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has ordered the National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation in Education (RAMA) to publish the results of the 'Tnufa' exams (the replacement for the 'Meitzav' exams) in science, contrary to the ban imposed by Minister of Education Yoav Kisch. These are likely the worst national exams in Israel's history, with only 3% reaching the required level.

Kisch has been working for months to dismiss RAMA CEO Gal Alon due to his insistence on publishing the exam results. Alon informed Kisch that he would publish the exams on September 6, unless Kisch requests a different date. Kisch's problem is even more difficult, as September 8 is the global publication date for the PISA 2025 (Programme for International Student Assessment) exam results. The confrontation with RAMA and its head will make it very difficult for Kisch to cover up the PISA exam results.

The confrontation erupted over Kisch's instruction to RAMA last May not to publish the results of the 'Tnufa' exams for ninth-grade science. The results, which have not yet been published, indicate that 3% of students demonstrated a high level (meeting the curriculum requirements), 16% a high-intermediate level, 54% a low-intermediate level, and 27% a low level. In other words, 81% are not even close to meeting the required level.

Kisch turned to the Civil Service Commission to initiate dismissal proceedings against Alon, and also appointed the Chairman of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education, Professor Ami Moyal, to examine the claims of senior Ministry of Education officials against RAMA. Last week, Alon sent a letter to Kisch in which he mentions that "in your letter dated May 10, 2026, you instructed us not to transfer 'findings, data, or notices' on the subject of national exams in the education system to 'external or internal parties'".

Alon accuses that "in the three months that have passed since this notice, we have been denied the ability to implement the government decision and to make information about the state of the education system available to the public". Alon reveals that since the Israeli failure in the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) exams was published in December 2024, Kisch has ordered four audits of work processes at RAMA, including Moyal's. "The other three audits, including your demand to the Civil Service Commissioner to open a disciplinary investigation, ended without finding any basis for your numerous claims against RAMA and against me personally," Alon wrote to Kisch.

In the results of the latest TIMSS exams, Israel fell from 9th place in 2019 to 23rd in mathematics, and from 16th to 25th in science - the sharpest decline among OECD countries. Kisch blamed the severe failure at the time on the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and security instability.

In his letter, Alon notifies Kisch that, contrary to his instruction, the results of the 'Tnufa' science exams will be published to the public on Sunday, September 6, at 16:00. Alon provides three reasons for his decision: a 2007 government decision does not grant the minister discretion to hide evaluation findings, the Attorney General's opinion requires immediate publication, and delaying the publication prevents schools from drawing necessary lessons.