Education Minister urges Netanyahu to “act now, strongly, against the state of Lebanon.”
By World Israel News Staff
Schools located in communities near the northern border with Lebanon will not re-open in September, Education Minister Yoav Kisch announced on Tuesday.
While meeting with local leaders from northern communities, including mayors and council heads, Kisch said that the “regrettable” decision was due to “complex security concerns” in the region.
Kisch urged Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu to “act now, strongly, against the state of Lebanon.”
“There is no escaping the decision to wage a massive war against Lebanon in order to restore peace and stability to the residents of the north and for the future of the State of Israel,” he added.
Since October 8th, the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group has launched daily attacks on northern Israel, killing 33 soldiers and civilians.
Some 60,000 Israelis were officially evacuated from their homes to due to their proximity from the government, living in temporary housing subsidized by the Israeli government.
But thousands of other residents of the north, who live slightly further away from the border and are enduring daily air raid sirens, are also believed to have relocated – albeit at their own expense.
The Israeli government has refused to state a timeframe in which displaced residents of the north can expect to return to their homes, leading to many of them putting down roots elsewhere in the country.
“It needs to be understood: 25 percent of northern residents have not signed their children up for schools for the coming academic year. This means that a large portion also won’t return to live in the north, and this is a disaster for an entire region,” Federation of Local Authorities chair Haim Bibas told Kisch.
“If there isn’t a decision soon, this number will only grow. The country must wake up, make difficult decisions, and restore security by force or diplomacy. The current situation is destroying what we built here for decades. The time has come for a decision.”