Five members of the Council for Higher Education (CHE) resigned on Monday in protest over legislation expanding gender-segregated academic studies, warning that the law constituted “unprecedented interference” in the council’s independence and could lead to the exclusion of women from Israeli academia.
According to Israeli media reports, four of the members submitted a joint resignation letter to President Isaac Herzog and Education Minister Yoav Kisch, who serves as chairman of the council. A fifth member, Moshe Vigdor, resigned in a separate letter.
The four signatories were Hebrew University chemistry Prof. Edit Tshuva, a former deputy chairwoman of the council; Technion Prof. Marcelle Machluf of the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering; Ben-Gurion University computer science Prof. Jihad El-Sana; and Prof. Lia Laor of the Levinsky-Wingate Academic College. Vigdor is CEO of the Mandel Foundation Israel, a former director-general of the CHE, and served on the council as a public representative.
CHE members cite threat to academic independence
“Approval of the law concerning gender segregation in advanced-degree studies in academia constitutes unprecedented interference in the independence of the Council for Higher Education,” the four wrote.
The intention to advance separate study programs was expected to severely harm the fundamental values on which Israel’s higher education system was based, including “academic freedom, equality, excellence and pluralism,” they said.
The amendment represented a substantive change in the nature of Israeli higher education and could lead to the exclusion of women as students, researchers and faculty members, they warned. It could also harm academic standards, public trust in the system and the international standing of Israeli academia.
“In these circumstances, we cannot continue to serve as members of the council and thereby grant legitimacy to steps that contradict the values for which we were asked to serve,” they wrote, announcing their immediate resignations.
Vigdor said separately that the legislation had undermined the council’s ability to bear responsibility for academic standards, equality, academic freedom and diversity.
“The law will grant state legitimacy to the exclusion of women in academia, and subsequently in additional public spaces,” he wrote, per reports.
“In the situation that has been created, in which the Council for Higher Education may become a rubber stamp for measures that contradict its scientific and ethical foundations, I cannot lend a hand to this – not through my voice and not through my silence.”
Vigdor stressed that his decision was not political, saying he had served as a public representative for approximately a decade out of a belief that a strong, free, equal and excellent academic system was a central component of Israel’s national resilience. Reports of the resignations said they were submitted one day before the council was due to hold its first discussion on implementing the legislation.
Knesset expands legal basis for gender-segregated programs
The Knesset approved the amendment to the Student Rights Law in a 52-43 vote early Thursday. Sponsored by Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, it expressly permits the CHE to approve separate programs for men and women in bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral studies.
At institutions that otherwise teach men and women together, separation is limited to classrooms, and enrollment must be voluntary. The legislation also states that operating separate institutions or programs for religious reasons will not, in itself, be considered discrimination. Son Har-Melech has argued that the legislation expands freedom of choice and allows religious students to pursue advanced degrees without abandoning their way of life.
High Court petition challenges new law
Six haredi women and 10 academics petitioned the High Court of Justice against the law hours after it passed, asking the court to strike it down or interpret it narrowly.
The petitioners argued that the amendment dismantled the safeguards on which the High Court relied when it upheld the council’s previous, limited framework for gender-segregated studies in 2021. That framework was restricted primarily to haredi students studying for bachelor’s degrees, limited separation to classrooms, and prohibited the exclusion of female lecturers.
The Council for Higher Education has yet to issue a response.
