# Ministry of Education (Israel)

The Ministry of Education (Hebrew: מִשְׂרָד הַחִנּוּךְ, translit. Misrad HaHinukh; Arabic: وزارة التربية والتعليم) is the branch of the Israeli government charged with overseeing public education institutions in Israel. The department is headed by the Minister of Education, who is a member of the cabinet. The ministry has previously included culture and sport, although this is now covered by the Ministry of Culture and Sport.

## History

In the first decade of statehood, the education system was faced with the task of establishing a network of kindergartens and schools for a rapidly growing student population. In 1949, there were 80,000 elementary school students. By 1950, there were 120,000 - an increase of 50 percent within the span of one year. Israel also took over responsibility for the education of Arab schoolchildren. The first minister of education was Zalman Shazar, later president of the State of Israel. Since 2002, the Ministry of Education has awarded a National Education Award to five top localities in recognizing excellence in investing substantial resources in the educational system. In 2012, first place was awarded to the Shomron Regional Council and followed by Or Yehuda, Tiberias, Eilat and Beersheba. The prize has been awarded to a variety of educational institutions including kindergartens and elementary schools.

### Activities of organizations in schools

In 2013–2014, the Ministry of Education promoted the regulation of the activities of external parties within the state schools, in a dialogue between the Ministry, the local government, parents' representatives, the business sector and philanthropic parties, as part of what was called "the intersectoral round table in the Ministry of Education". As part of the regulation, the Ministry compiled a database of external programs that have some kind of partnership with a representative from the Ministry of Education's headquarters.
In 2019, a petition was filed by pluralist Jewish organizations against the Ministry of Education due to a procedure that reduces by tens of thousands of shekels the support for the activities of these organizations in schools. In April 2021, the High Court invalidated the procedure in question, and even emphasized the importance of implementing the principles of the Shanhar Committee report on the teaching of Judaism in state education. In November 2021 it was announced that the Ministry of Education is not implementing the High Court ruling and that the damage to those organizations continues.

## List of ministers

| # | Minister | Party | Governments | Term start | Term end | Notes |
| Minister of Education and Culture |||||||
| 1 | Zalman Shazar | Mapai | 1 | 10 March 1949 (1949-3-10) | 1 November 1950 (1950-11-1) | |
| 2 | David Remez | Mapai | 2 | 1 November 1950 (1950-11-1) | 19 May 1951 (1951-5-19) | Died in office |
| 3 | David Ben-Gurion | Mapai | 2 | 19 May 1951 (1951-5-19) | 8 October 1951 (1951-10-8) | Serving Prime Minister |
| 4 | Ben-Zion Dinur | Mapai | 3, 4, 5, 6 | 8 October 1951 (1951-10-8) | 3 November 1955 (1955-11-3) | |
| 5 | Zalman Aran | Mapai | 7, 8, 9 | 3 November 1955 (1955-11-3) | 10 May 1960 (1960-5-10) | |
| 6 | Abba Eban | Mapai | 9, 10 | 3 August 1960 (1960-8-3) | 26 June 1963 (1963-6-26) | |
| – | Zalman Aran | Mapai, Alignment | 11, 12, 13 | 26 June 1963 (1963-6-26) | 15 December 1969 (1969-12-15) | |
| 7 | Yigal Allon | Alignment | 15, 16 | 15 December 1969 (1969-12-15) | 3 June 1974 (1974-6-3) | |
| 8 | Aharon Yadlin | Alignment | 17 | 3 June 1974 (1974-6-3) | 20 June 1977 (1977-6-20) | |
| 9 | Zevulun Hammer | National Religious Party | 18, 19, 20 | 20 June 1977 (1977-6-20) | 13 September 1984 (1984-9-13) | |
| 10 | Yitzhak Navon | Alignment | 21, 22, 23 | 13 September 1984 (1984-9-13) | 15 March 1990 (1990-3-15) | |
| – | Zevulun Hammer | National Religious Party | 24 | 11 June 1990 (1990-6-11) | 13 July 1992 (1992-7-13) | |
| 11 | Shulamit Aloni | Meretz | 25 | 13 July 1992 (1992-7-13) | 11 May 1993 (1993-5-11) | |
| 12 | Yitzhak Rabin | Labor | 25 | 11 May 1993 (1993-5-11) | 7 June 1993 (1993-6-7) | Serving Prime Minister |
| Minister of Education, Culture and Sport |||||||
| 13 | Amnon Rubinstein | Meretz | 25, 26 | 3 May 1994 (1994-5-3) | 18 June 1996 (1996-6-18) | |
| – | Zevulun Hammer | National Religious Party | 27 | 18 June 1996 (1996-6-18) | 20 January 1998 (1998-1-20) | Died in office |
| 14 | Yitzhak Levy | National Religious Party | 27 | 25 February 1998 (1998-2-25) | 6 July 1999 (1999-7-6) | |
| Minister of Education |||||||
| 15 | Yossi Sarid | Meretz | 28 | 6 July 1999 (1999-7-6) | 24 June 2000 (2000-6-24) | |
| 16 | Ehud Barak | One Israel | 28 | 24 September 2000 (2000-9-24) | 7 March 2001 (2001-3-7) | Serving Prime Minister |
| Minister of Education, Culture and Sport |||||||
| 17 | Limor Livnat | Likud | 29, 30 | 7 March 2001 (2001-3-7) | 14 January 2006 (2006-1-14) | |
| 18 | Meir Sheetrit | Kadima | 30 | 18 January 2006 (2006-1-18) | 4 May 2006 (2006-5-4) | |
| Minister of Education |||||||
| 19 | Yuli Tamir | Labor | 31 | 4 May 2006 (2006-5-4) | 31 March 2009 (2009-3-31) | |
| 20 | Gideon Sa'ar | Likud | 32 | 31 March 2009 (2009-3-31) | 18 March 2013 (2013-3-18) | |
| 21 | Shai Piron | Yesh Atid | 33 | 18 March 2013 (2013-3-18) | 4 December 2014 | |
| 22 | Naftali Bennett | The Jewish Home, New Right | 34 | 14 May 2015 | 2 June 2019 | |
| 23 | Rafi Peretz | Union of the Right-Wing Parties | 34 | 17 June 2019 | 17 May 2020 | |
| 24 | Yoav Gallant | Likud | 35 | 17 May 2020 | 13 June 2021 | |
| 25 | Yifat Shasha-Biton | New Hope | 36 | 13 June 2021 | 29 December 2022 | |
| 26 | Yoav Kisch | Likud | 37 | 29 December 2022 | |