In a sad testament to the fact that not all Israelis gleaned a lesson about the importance of unity from the October 7 massacre, protest organizations are planning a large protest in Jerusalem on Wednesday against the dismissal of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.

Since the government is holding the vote to dismiss Bar on Wednesday, the organizations are planning to hold a march that day in Jerusalem that will end in protests outside the Knesset and the Prime Minister’s Residence.

Dr. Ze’ev Degani, a principal of a high school in Hertziliya announced on Monday that he is cancelling classes on Wednesday so the students can attend the protest.

In fallacious statements reminiscent of the year before the October 7 massacre, Degani told the teaching staff that “the prime minister is turning the country into a dictatorship” and we must fight “for the future of democracy in Israel.”

Education Minister Yoav Kisch excoriated Degani and threatened him with the immediate loss of all government funding if he cancels classes for political reasons.

“Ze’ev Degani is a criminal,” Kisch said. “His decision to shut down classes and send students to a political demonstration is a serious and direct violation of the Compulsory Education Law. The education system is not lawless and we will not allow schools to become arenas for political clashes.”

“Therefore, Degani and the Board of Directors of Herzliya Gymnasium have been summoned to an urgent hearing on Wednesday. If the school is indeed shut down, the budgets that Herzliya Gymnasium receives from the education system will be terminated immediately. Schools are places for learning, not platforms for political propaganda. Leave politics to the politicians.”

Tel Aviv University President Prof. Ariel Poroat also published a strongly worded letter to members of the university’s academic staff, in which he declared that if Bar is dismissed, he will declare a strike and lead protests.

He called on the academic staff and senior members of the economy to join him in the move.

Opposition chairman Yair Lapid stated on Monday that the heads of the opposition parties are filing a petition to the Supreme Court against Bar’s dismissal.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)