Use of millions of shekels from student funds in elections blocked

Channel 14 monitoring reveals that the attempt to allocate millions of shekels from student funds for activities during the election period was blocked after student union representatives opposed the move and demanded a significant reduction in the amount and the creation of transparency and oversight mechanisms. At the center of the dispute was a demand by the National Union of Students chair, Sivan Koren, to allocate a sum of millions of shekels. Student union representatives raised concerns that the funds would be used to mobilize and encourage students for political purposes during the election period. This comes against the backdrop of claims that Koren had previously acted against the regulations and promoted a campaign in collaboration with the Yisrael Beiteinu party.

The struggle over the funds intensified, and harsh exchanges took place in the WhatsApp groups of student representatives. One of the representatives even filed a complaint with the police following a discussion in the group that she interpreted as an allusion to harming her. In the complaint, filed on August 6, she claimed that during a discussion in a professional WhatsApp group, talk arose about "rolling a body in a carpet," and that this caused her to fear for her life and safety.

Despite the pressure, the union representatives insisted on a significant reduction of the amount. Yesterday, a reduced proposal of only 400,000 shekels for the campaign was ultimately passed — not the millions of shekels initially demanded. From the perspective of those opposing the move, this is a significant achievement. Instead of allowing extensive use of student funds during an election period, a much smaller amount was approved, alongside a demand for transparency and oversight of how the money is used.

One of the union representatives, who left the meeting, expressed acute frustration with the decision and raised an additional point, according to which the money could have been directed to other needs of the student public:

"We just left the meeting and I don't believe it passed. It was possible to invest this money in scholarships for students and academic assistance for reservists."

He added that the concern is not limited only to the waste of money, but also to the political implications of the move: "We are very afraid that they have painted us with a very, very specific political side on the map, and it is truly a great shame that they took all the students in Israel and assigned them to a certain side."