Many educators have already announced that they plan to be absent on Monday, signaling that frustration within the teaching sector has yet to abate. Despite new understandings between the Finance Ministry and the Teachers’ Union, it remains unclear whether disruptions in the education system will soon come to an end.
According to the proposed framework—still pending a formal agreement—the planned budget cut will be significantly scaled back, from 3.307% to 0.95% through the end of 2025.
The deal also includes compensation measures for teachers, such as two additional vacation days on Lag Ba’omer over the next two years. In addition, a differential mechanism will be applied so that not all teachers are affected equally.
The central question remains whether these concessions will be enough to ease tensions and bring the protest to an end.
Teachers’ Union Secretary-General Yaffa Ben-David said, “It’s important to understand that this cut was imposed by the government through legislation on all public sector employees. The dedicated and principled education staff were the first to shoulder the burden in times of crisis—and now justice is being done with them.”
Initially, the protest was to take the form of a delayed start to the school day. However, some teachers did not report to work at all. The protest has received the backing of Education Minister Yoav Kisch, who stated, “The teachers’ and kindergarten teachers’ struggle is entirely justified. The Finance Ministry officials are out of touch. It is unacceptable that teachers and kindergarten teachers—whose work is sacred—should be discriminated against compared to other public sector employees in Israel. I am doing, and will continue to do, everything I can to support them in this struggle.”
Educators interviewed expressed frustration and disillusionment
“A 3.5% cut to a teacher’s net salary is a painful blow, especially given that our pay is already among the lowest in the public sector,” said one primary school teacher.
“The Finance Ministry is targeting us and ignoring the staffing crisis in elementary schools, which stems from already low wages. We are all working harder because of this shortage, and when you open your paycheck and see NIS 300 or NIS 500 less, it’s demoralizing. It’s about more than money—it’s a blow to our dignity and to the already eroded status of teachers.”
Another teacher commented, saying, “We are law-abiding, tax-paying citizens. To lump us together with high earners in the public sector—who are also being hit with the same percentage cut—and then claim we’re not carrying our share of the burden, as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich does, only adds insult to injury.”