Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced the closure of all schools throughout Israel on Thursday night due to the rising spread of the coronavirus. Israel’s National Security Council, Health Ministry and Education Ministry made a decision on Thursday to close all educational institutions in Israel. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with Education Minister Rabbi Rafi Peretz Thursday afternoon followed by lengthy discussions with the National Security Council (NSC) and reportedly accepted the recommendation to close all schools. There will be an official announcement on Thursday evening at 8 p.m. The Education Ministry is planning on establishing an online system for online classrooms for all educational institutions, including elementary schools, high schools and higher education institutions. The Teachers Union of Israel sent a letter to Netanyahu on Thursday requesting that he close all schools in Israel and transfer students to distant learning. “Israel is one of the most crowded countries in the world,” wrote the chairwoman of the union, adding that other countries, including Poland, Italy, Sweden and Denmark have closed their schools, reducing the number of coronavirus cases. STAY UPDATED WITH BREAKING UPDATES FROM YWN VIA WHATSAPP – SIGN UP NOW Just click on this link, and you will be placed into a group. “Schools and pre-schools are incubators of infectious diseases, creating a significant and immediate danger to students, teachers and their family members…” the chairwoman wrote. “We won’t be able to halt the spread of the virus across Israel if it infects entire schools.” The Bedouin school system in Israel already began teaching high school students on Thursday at home through online lessons. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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