Education is in crisis, and teachers' union chairman Ran Erez announced that he would shut down high schools in September, but Education Minister Yoav Kisch has been busy lately with one thing that raises quite a few question marks.
The minister is currently exerting enormous resources and pressure so that Lilach Zemer, who is close to him and serves as his chief of staff in the Education Ministry, can run and be elected head of the Likud branch in Ramat Gan. Through this role, according to some people familiar with the matter, she intends to run in the municipal elections for mayor. The education minister held various meetings on the subject, including with Likud officials, in an attempt to enlist support in the city for a good singer group. He also represented her and her colleagues in the courts of the Likud movement.
At the same time, a photo obtained by Israel Hayom documented a meeting between Kish, a good singer, Ramat Gan Carmel Mayor Shama Hacohen and others ahead of the city's elections, apparently also on municipal issues.
Despite Israel Hayom's request, Minister Kish's office refuses to reveal his meeting diary. The other two people involved, the mayor and the chief of staff, also declined to comment on the content of the meeting.
As mentioned, Zemer Tov is an employee of the Ministry of Education who serves as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Education, and she calls herself a veteran activist in the Likud branch. Recently, she has been working to run for the head of the Likud branch in Ramat Gan, and later even to run for mayor, according to her appeal to the Likud court. The person who is aggressively pushing for her candidacy and election, as mentioned, is her boss, the Minister of Education. He does so even though he is not a well-known figure or has municipal experience.
The demand to change the electoral system
A good singer's confrontation with a Likud group in the city sparked a struggle against the veteran Likud group headed by Moshe Revach, head of the Likud faction in Ramat Gan. Last Monday, the issue came before the Likud's municipal committee, which decides how Likud representatives will be elected in each city.
The committee discussed the request of Zemer Tov's group to change the electoral system in the city: their demand is that the Likud list in the city be chosen by all party functionaries in the city – and not just members of the branch, as is customary. The person who represented Zemer Tov in demanding a change in the way the elections were held was none other than her boss, Kish. Their argument was that the number of Likud functionaries in the city has increased dramatically, necessitating elections among all functionaries.
The municipal committee includes Likud ministers, along with MK David Bitan, Likud Director General Zuri Siso and advisor to the movement's chairman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, David Sharan.
The discussion quickly heated up, and Kish was opposed by ministers Yisrael Katz, Haim Katz and even Nir Barkat, who supports Moshe Revach. In the end, the committee ruled, contrary to Kish's demand, that the elections be held by the branch council. Those present at the discussion told Israel Hayom that the education minister did not maintain his composure: "There was a dramatic debate in the discussion, and everyone on the committee was against Yoav Kish. This was a rare event, in which even Haim Katz and Yisrael Katz could be found on the same side, against Kish's request to hold elections in the branch council."
Yoav Kish, Lilach Zemer Tov and Carmel Shama Hacohen,
The application presents a good singer as a candidate for mayor of Ramat Gan, but the court rejected their request and backed the municipal committee's ruling. Last Thursday, elections were held in the Ramat Gan branch council and Moshe Revach won an absolute majority of the votes. Despite this, the petition of a good singer backed by Kish still stands, and according to Likud sources, the education minister has announced that he intends to continue proceedings against the elections in the Likud court and in the municipal committee.
Question marks
Kish's increased preoccupation with the municipal elections in Ramat Gan raises quite a few question marks, in light of the poor state of the education system and the Ministry of Education he heads. Among many educators, the past year has been a wasted year in which the huge gaps in the education system have not been reduced. The problem of violence in schools is a ticking time bomb, and thousands of teachers are still short for the next school year. In addition, Kish and his office's director-general, Assaf Tzalel, signed an unusual decision whereby kindergartens and communication classes in the special education system will end the school day at 16:00 P.M., rather than 16:45 P.M., as has been the practice until now.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch Joins the Negotiations Team at the President's Residence / Education Minister Spokesperson's Office
The minister's office refrained from commenting on the content of the request, saying in response: "Lilach Zemer Tov serves as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Education. Regarding the Education Minister's meeting diary, a Freedom of Information Act request must be submitted."
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