Education official tells Jerusalem students that protests for hostages ‘harm national unity’

With the opening of the school year, a top education official has pressed students not to hold protest events demanding a deal to return hostages in Gaza, claiming this would “harm national unity.”

Carmit Harush, director of the Jerusalem District in the Education Ministry, said in a letter to student councils in the district that their efforts would be better spent “following a path of supporting the state, strengthening IDF soldiers, boosting national morale and engaging in positive advocacy.”

“A path of protest,” Harush argued, “mainly harms national unity.”

Harush suggested that students “hold dialogue circles in order to plan positive and constructive activities that will allow us to create joint positive influence in favor of the hostages’ return and the war’s conclusion with victory.”

In a statement to Haaretz, the ministry said, “The letter was intended to anchor the discourse around the hostages and to emphasize the importance of making the yearning for their return a values-based discussion and social action within educational frameworks.”