Educators Battle Government Over Textbook

Israel's main high school civics textbook has become a new battleground in a culture war embroiling the country — pitting politicians against educators in a debate over how much religion and Jewish history should be included in the country's national curriculum. Three of the book's authors have removed their names from chapters they wrote, claiming Education Ministry professionals altered their work beyond recognition to include a nationalist slant. The book's editor has submitted a six-page protest letter, and the sole Arab member of the committee overseeing civics education has quit in protest. The book is scheduled to be published in March "It's a book for all the students of Israel — for secular and religious, for Arabs and Druse," said copy editor Yehuda Yaari. "And this book does not represent an approach that matches all the students." The uproar comes at a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalistic government has been pushing forward with a series of initiatives critics charge undermine the country's democratic values. The country's culture minister has threatened to pull funding for plays and art exhibits she deems hostile to Israel, the government is promoting legislation that many believe will hurt dovish nonprofit groups, and the Education Ministry recently blocked a novel from the national curriculum because it described a romance between a Jew and an Arab. It all adds up to a climate where critics accuse the government of trying to impose its conservative values on the public. At the center of the storm is Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the Jewish Home party that is closely identified with the West Bank settlement movement. Bennett defended the changes to the civics book as "excellent and professional," and said there was no reason to apologize for instilling the country's youths with what he considers to be Jewish values. "The question is if Israel is a Jewish and democratic state or if it is a state like all other states," he said on Israel's Army Radio. "I, as the minister of education, definitely intend to strengthen the Jewish element." All Israeli high school students learn civics from the textbook, usually for two years. There are two alternate civics books in Hebrew, but the text under revision will be the source for the mandatory high school matriculation exam. There will be no alternate in Arabic.