Minister Kisch announced: "I will appoint Prof. Moshe Cohen-Eliya as a member of the CHE plenum"

Minister of Education Yoav Kisch was a guest on the "Weekend" program with Yaakov Bardugo on Channel 14 last Friday, and addressed the growing tension with university heads and the expected changes in the Council for Higher Education (CHE).

During the interview, the minister revealed that he intends to appoint Professor Moshe Cohen-Eliya, former president of the Academic Center for Law and Science in Ramat Gan, as a member of the CHE plenum. The appointment comes in response to the resignation of four professors representing the universities from the council. According to Kisch, after the universities refused to suggest alternative names, it was decided to grant broader representation to college personnel.

"I am going to appoint excellent college personnel, women and men. They don't want to suggest names? They will get the people from the colleges," Kisch declared.

The minister added that he intends to also appoint women with the rank of professor from the colleges in order to maintain gender balance in the council. Yaakov Bardugo welcomed the emerging appointment and noted that Prof. Cohen-Eliya is "an excellent researcher and a most worthy person."

In addition, Minister Kisch addressed the struggle against university presidents, and cited the name of the president of Tel Aviv University, Prof. Ariel Porat, as an example of what he defined as "mixing politics into academia." Kisch mentioned a precedent-setting decision he passed in the CHE, which forbids heads of institutions from using the institution they head for political purposes.

"Whoever takes their institution hostage for political wars is violating the CHE rules and will be subject to unequivocal sanctions," the minister clarified.