Israel’s Council of Higher Education has supported the application of Israeli law to academic institutions in the West Bank settlements according to a council member speaking at the Knesset Education Committee.
The Committee on Thursday approved in the first reading a bill submitted by MK Shuli Moalem-Rafaeli to close the Council of Higher Education in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and apply Israeli law to the academic institutions there.
Yesh Atid party voted in favor of the bill which was unanimously approved by the parties in the government coalition. The Education Committee did not discuss the bill’s possible international implications.
Sources from the Council of Higher Education said that the Council’s position on the bill was forwarded to the members as a legislative direction and it has not been discussed or voted on.
The Council said in response that the decision to impose Israeli sovereignty on higher education institutions in the West Bank is a political matter.
The bill is part of a series of bills submitted by the Jewish Home party and the government coalition for the gradual annexation of the West Bank settlements to Israel.
