Over the years, Ran Erez has served 13 ministers of education. There were names like Yossi Sarid, Naftali Bennett, Yoav Galant, Shai Piron and more. Almost every one of them was insulted or booed by him. In some cases, he conducted millions of shekels in defamatory media campaigns against them.
Erez's current battle is with Education Minister Yoav Kish. The former accuses the latter of not being willing to intervene on behalf of the teachers when it comes to the salary agreement, and even claimed that Kish threatened to "come out on him" and that he was a liar: "Once again the education minister is taking things out of his finger. Either he has no idea, or he is consciously lying. Let the public decide."
Ran Erez, chairman of the teachers' union, attacks the education minister
In an attempt to exert pressure on the Minister of Education, Erez even stopped the trips to Poland, a decision against which the Ministry of Education appealed, but the court repeatedly ruled in favor of the teachers' union over the Ministry of Education and local government.
In an interview with Israel Hayom, Limor Livnat, who was education minister in 2001, previously said: "The organizations [teachers' organizations] used terror against me, tried to eliminate me politically." "Education ministers are afraid to confront them. They use their power too easily, immediately threaten strikes and immediately implement various 'organizational measures,' such as canceling trips." Livnat came under fire over the Dovrat Committee's report, which called for a change in the education system, including teachers' working hours.
Historic strike
Erez had a bloody dispute in 2007 with Yuli Tamir, who was education minister during his struggle over teachers' salaries and the two-month strike. The organization placed ads against her in newspapers, and she responded by holding a press conference, where she said Erez had threatened to assassinate her politically. "Before the campaign began, senior officials in the ministry received a phone call from Erez, who told them that if I didn't give in to his demands – which are the destruction of the reform and the teachers' union – he would eliminate me politically. He said he would go over my head, and that what he did to Limor Livnat was just the beginning."
Yuli Tamir (archive), photo: Gideon Markowitz
Everyone absorbed
Another education minister whom Erez fought head-on is Yifat Shasha Biton, who tried to lead a change in the whole issue of matriculation exams and turn the external matriculation exams in the humanities into multidisciplinary work. He decided to launch a campaign, titled "Shasha Bitton is destroying education in Israel." He opposed the change on the grounds that it would harm veteran teachers, Jewish values and identity; At a press conference, he attacked: "I must say, there has not been a minister or education minister who has done such great damage to the education system."
Naftali Bennett, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Over the years, Erez also criticized Education Minister Naftali Bennett, about whom he said: "I expected the education minister to focus and deal with the education system, but unfortunately he does not deal with it." This happened when the students themselves went on strike to protest the conduct of his organization.
Erez also entered a head-on confrontation with current Defense Minister Yoav Galant. As Minister of Education, Galant demanded that teachers extend the school year due to the lockdowns during the coronavirus period – but the court ruled otherwise, and Erez scored a victory.
In addition, when Galant took office, Erez set a condition and announced that he would agree to attend an introductory meeting with the Minister of Education – only on condition that members of the teachers' union's management join him in the meeting. As a result, the meeting between the two was cancelled.
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