"It is very good that the lessons were learned": MK Gilad Kariv welcomes the political union

Another school year is about to begin in the north, and some educational institutions still lack proper protection. The budgets have already been agreed upon in the committees, but the funds have not yet been released to the local authorities. MK Gilad Kariv (The Democrats), who raised the issue in the State Control Committee back in March, warns that the promises made have not yet been fulfilled. In the conversation, he also addressed the union between Hadash, Ta'al, and Balad ahead of the elections.

MK Kariv addressed in his conversation with Anat Davidov, on the program "Where is the Money" on 103fm, the lack of protection in the north and presented the sequence of events: "In 2025, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Defense published a call for proposals in the amount of 140 million NIS to local authorities throughout the north for the protection of kindergartens and daycare centers. They informed dozens of authorities that there was a budget to protect 250 institutions. At the end of the year, they informed them that there was no cash flow. They did not release it. We caught this in the Knesset, we received a promise in the State Control Committee that the call for proposals would be released, but they only said that they needed to take 40 million NIS from those 140 million NIS for the north to protect educational institutions in Ashkelon and they would find where to make up the gap. This was last March."

According to him, even the commitment made since then has not yet been translated into action on the ground: "I told them that they skipped a year. You need to publish two calls for proposals: to implement what you committed to in 2025 and the second to continue the protection operation in 2026. They said we will see what we do. We are two weeks before the opening of the school year and even the first, cut-down call for proposals has not been implemented."

"The moment there is protection for kindergartens and daycare centers - the level of protection for the entire population rises"

Later, Kariv addressed the costs involved in protecting educational institutions and the scope of the need existing in the north: "If they want to protect all the old schools, then it is about hundreds of millions of shekels, most likely over a billion. The state decided to start with the project of protection for daycare centers and kindergartens. There is a budget called 'Shield of the North' and it is intended specifically for settlements adjacent to the fence, but one can mention Karmiel and the Krayot that need the budget."

Kariv emphasized that the protection of educational institutions has a broader meaning, because it may provide a solution also for residents living in their vicinity: "We know that even in the center of the country, the protected kindergartens were a protection solution also for apartment owners for those who do not have MAMADs (protected rooms) and a nearby shelter. In my city, Givatayim, during the last campaign, they opened all the kindergartens and tenants in old houses would go to the kindergartens that were scattered within the neighborhoods. The moment there is protection for kindergartens and daycare centers - the level of protection for the entire population rises. It is unbelievable that three years after the start of the war, there is no clear address for the heads of the authorities."

Later, he clarified that he and the Knesset members in the State Control Committee intend to continue dealing with the issue even with the opening of the school year: "In September, the State Control Committee will conduct a tour in the north. We turned to the Minister of Education and the Minister of Defense: give the heads of the authorities a clear commitment when they can protect. We will do everything so that the call for proposals of at least 100 million NIS will go out for implementation. We commit that in the coalition agreements, as much as we can be a party to this issue, the issue of protecting educational institutions throughout the north will be included. Out of the 140 million NIS, they took 40 million NIS for Ashkelon but the additional 100 million NIS were not released. We have lost two years of protecting kindergartens and daycare centers in all the settlements of the north."

"The previous elections Bibi did not win - we failed in them"

Later in the conversation, MK Kariv also addressed the union of the three Arab parties ahead of the upcoming elections and its significance for the opposition bloc: "We welcome every union among the opposition parties. I want to remind that the previous elections Bibi did not win - we failed in them and we lost them because there were two parties that did not pass the electoral threshold, Meretz and one of the Arab parties, and a quarter of a million votes were wasted. It is very good that the lessons were learned."

In conclusion, Kariv called for increasing the voter turnout, and especially in the Arab society: "The voting percentage in the Arab society stood at a little over 50%, a dramatic gap compared to the Jewish public, therefore the story is not to pull the blanket but to increase it. We, for our part, turn to those Arab voters who did not want to vote for the Arab parties but felt that the Zionist parties do not turn to them. I call on every citizen, Arab, Jewish, to go out and vote. I think that today the Arab citizens in the State of Israel have also the option of the Joint List, also Ra'am and also the Democrats party that thinks there should be a political partnership."