The Law to Prevent the Employment of Teaching Staff with Academic Degrees from Palestinian Authority Institutions (Legislative Amendments), 2026

The law amends the State Education Law (1953) and the Supervision of Schools Law (1969) to implement a categorical ban on the employment of any individual as a teacher, principal, or supervisor in the Israeli or East Jerusalem education systems if they hold a degree from a Palestinian Authority (PA) higher education institution. While framed as a measure to prevent the “harmful influence” of the PA, the law functions as a discriminatory tool of exclusion: it delegitimizes Palestinian academic institutions, denies Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of East Jerusalem an important pathway to higher education and employment, and is poised to cause severe damage to the Palestinian education system.

The law applies to students currently enrolled in Palestinian institutions who have not yet completed their first year of studies, effectively barring thousands of future Palestinian educators from the workforce. The law provides only a narrow and burdensome exception: the Director General of the Ministry of Education may approve employment only if the individual obtains a second bachelor’s degree from a recognized Israeli institution, holds an Israeli teaching certificate, and on condition that the Director General of the Ministry of Education does not determine that the appointment would have a “harmful influence” on students—a criterion that, as evidenced by the legislative process, serves as a subjective mechanism of “ideological vetting.”

Main provisions

Amendment to the State Education Law, 1953: After section 18A, the following shall be added: 18B. Prevention of the employment of a teaching staff member who has an academic degree from a Palestinian Authority institution:

1. The purpose of this section is to prevent the harmful influence of the Palestinian Authority, which is hostile to the State of Israel and its values, and to preserve the educational values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state as formulated in this law.

2. The State shall not employ as a teaching staff member a person who has an academic degree from an institution of higher education in the Palestinian Authority; for the purpose of this section, such a person shall be deemed as one who does not possess an academic degree required for employment as a teaching professional.

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(g) In this provision, an “Institution of Higher Education in the Palestinian Authority” means any of the following, including a branch or extension of such an institution:

1. An institution of higher education located in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] or the Gaza Strip that is not an Israeli academic institution recognized by the Council for Higher Education; 

2. An institution of higher education supervised by the Palestinian Authority or by an entity acting on its behalf.
    

Amendment to the Supervision of Schools Law, 1969: 

(b) No approval for employment as an education worker shall be granted to a person who holds an academic degree from an institution of higher education in the Palestinian Authority, and such person shall be regarded as not possessing the academic degree required for employment as an education worker in Israel…

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(e) The provisions of this section shall also apply to a school principal.

Context

The legislative process for the law was driven by an explicit ideological agenda rather than any pedagogical, educational or other necessity. During debates in the Knesset Education Committee, the law’s sponsors openly admitted to the lack of a professional foundation. MK Avichay Buaron stated: “We have no pedagogical intention... and no security purpose. We have a values-based [ideological] purpose.” MK Amit Halevi argued that the objective was to ensure that those who studied in the Palestinian Authority cannot  be teachers in Israel from a “values perspective.” The explanatory notes for the bill claimed that curricula in these institutions include “antisemitic content and indoctrination aimed at denying the existence of the State of Israel.” During Knesset deliberations, legal advisors for the Knesset and the Education Committee repeatedly cautioned that no factual evidence was presented to support blanket claims that these graduates exert a “harmful influence” or that their curricula incite terrorism. 

Why is it discriminatory?

The law is rooted in a racist premise that views Palestinian educators as a suspect enemy and stigmatizes their academic background as inherently hostile. It labels an entire professional class as a security threat to justify their exclusion from the workforce.

By targeting those who pursue degrees at Palestinian institutions the law violates the internationally recognized rights to employment and education, as well as the fundamental principle of non-discrimination. Studying at Palestinian institutions is often the only viable path to higher education for Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of East Jerusalem. Palestinian students face a scarcity of Arabic-language programs in Israel, alongside systemic barriers such as financial constraints and the Hebrew proficiency exam, which Knesset legal advisors during committee deliberations characterized as a “severe structural barrier” excluding even high-achieving Arab students. Palestinian institutions, meanwhile, provide a curriculum and environment that are both linguistically and culturally accessible.

Over 30 Palestinian institutions are listed in the UNESCO-managed World Higher Education Database (WHED), confirming their global standing. Disqualifying these credentials on political grounds violates the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960), which prohibits distinctions based on national or social origin.

The law would also severely impact education systems in the regions where the education system is most vulnerable, specifically East Jerusalem and the Naqab (Negev, southern Israel), where levels of teacher shortages, overcrowding, and dropping out are high, and where a significant portion of educators are graduates of Palestinian universities. According to official data from the Ministry of Education submitted to the Knesset in late 2024, approximately 58% of the 6,700 teachers in East Jerusalem schools hold degrees from Palestinian Authority institutions, with similar proportions estimated among school principals and supervisors. East Jerusalem is already projected to face a shortage of 540 teachers over the next five years, which this law will exacerbate. While the law does not apply to individuals already employed in the education system or to those who have completed their first year of studies, it affects the upcoming generation of educators and, consequently, the adequate provision and quality of education.

Finally, the law violates international humanitarian law (IHL) with respect to the status of occupied East Jerusalem. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, an occupying power is prohibited from altering the social or cultural status quo of a protected population. Knesset committee deliberations revealed an explicit agenda of “Israelization” aimed at severing the cultural ties of Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. For example, MK Amit Halevi stated that these educators fail to “cultivate Israeliness”. Such measures effectively turn the education system into a tool of ideological assimilation, breaching the obligation to respect the cultural integrity and civil life of an occupied population.

Legal challenges to law: HCJ 68074-02-26, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, et al. v. The Minister of Education, et al. (filed on 22 February 2026). The petition argues that the law violates the constitutional rights to equality, freedom of occupation, and the rights to education and culture. It emphasizes that the law lacks any factual or security-based foundation and is driven solely by a discriminatory ideological agenda.