Huldai thinks he is running his own little country.

Today in Haaretz, on both the English and the Hebrew sites, an article was published showing that Tel Aviv Mayor, Ron Huldai thinks he can define Israel according to his own personal ideology and the heck with what the Ministry of Education says!

I show the tops of the article in both languages as they are slightly different even though written by the same author. Then I will add a statement put out by Judea-Samaria Regional Council head.

If this is hard to read on your screen, here is what it says:

Tel Aviv and Israeli government spar over school maps showing 1967 borders

The Tel Aviv municipality is spearheading a rare initiative: teaching students about the Green Line. But the Education Minister is barring the use of maps depicting occupied territories, ‘not even as a poster on the wall’

With the new school year about to open, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality sent its schools maps showing the Green Line, which was Israel’s pre-1967 border. But the Education Ministry told the municipality on Monday that it can’t use the map – ‘not even as a poster on the wall.’

This shows why politicians should not be teaching or telling schools what to teach — if Huldai had been paying attention, he would know that there was no pre-1967 border. The Green Line is an armistice line from 1949, meaning the point at which the fighting stopped. The border to the country will be determined by negotiation and not by decree of a city mayor based on his own personal political beliefs.

Also note that the title shows that Haaretz supports Huldai’s act: they also mention borders that are not borders and when they talk about a “spar,” they imply a legitimate disagreement. That is certainly not what this is. Interestingly, the Hebrew title is more to the point, really.

And what does the Hebrew say?

Tel Aviv Municipality hung up maps with the Green Line in schools, against the prohibition of the Ministry of Education

This morning, the municipality posted maps showing the Green Line in about 2000 classrooms against the position of the Ministry of Education: ‘The map is not authorized for study or even for use as a poster on the wall.’ Huldai: ‘It is important to use that students become familiar with the borders of Israeli sovereignty.’

This morning (Tuesday), in schools across the city, Tel Aviv Municipality hung up maps of the State of Israel showing the Green Line, even those the Ministry of Education forbids this. ‘The map was not brought for authorization by the Ministry of Education, and therefore it is not authorized for study or even for use as a poster on the wall,’ we were told yesterday by the Ministry. In response, Mayor Ron Huldai said ‘The maps will be put up in every classroom in the city.’

Who needs negotiations when Huldai has already determined the border of Israeli sovereignty!

It would be educational to teach students how to research the topic and present their ideas in an intelligent and reasonable manner by inviting them to debate about it. But Huldai thinks otherwise.

Response from Judea-Samaria

David Elhayani, Head of the Judea-Samaria Regional Council and of the Jordan Valley Regional Council gave the following statement (my translation into English):

It is unfortunate that Tel Aviv Municipality and its mayor prove how disconnected the first Hebrew city in the country is from the Jewish People. At a time when there is no diplomatic pressure on Israel and there is no debate in the world about sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, Tel Aviv municipality, in a despicable and desperate manner, tries to reawaken the old conversation from the 1990s. If Tel Aviv thinks it important for its students to become truly familiar with the State of Israel, then it would be best to take them out on trips and hikes in the region in which they will learn the history of the Jewish People and on all parts of the Land of Israel.

I am not only appalled by the imposition of Huldai’s political stance on students who are at the stage of life when they should be learning about how to explore the world around them and develop their own beliefs, I am also taken aback by his chutzpah. The Ministry of Education has informed him that the maps have to come down but he is determined to keep them up. If the Ministry does not show greater determination than Huldai, the next thing we know is that he will invite Breaking the Silence and other similar organizations back into the schools even though the Ministry has forbidden that as well.