Israel: Haifa Uni, Bennett in deal to open medical school at settlement

Israel’s University of Haifa and Education Minister Naftali Bennett are working on a deal to open a medical school on the illegal settlement of Ariel.

The President of the University sent a letter to Israel’s Education Minister, Naftali Bennett – an ardent supporter of Israel’s illegal settlement project – to discuss opening a medical school in Ariel, located southwest of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, Haaretz revealed yesterday.

Haaretz noted the change in the university president’s position on opening the medical school, after Bennett pledged to approve large budgets for Haifa University and facilitate certain issues in return for the university’s involvement. A week later, the Council of Higher Education issued its final approval for establishing the medical school in Ariel.

According to Haaretz, the approval was given against the recommendations of specialised bodies, which rejected establishing the medical school in the settlement.

Last week, the Israeli Ministry of Justice announced it would cancel the approval of opening a medical school in Ariel, finding evidence of the contradiction of interests among members of the board. Ariel – which is built on private Palestinian land belonging to the central West Bank city of Salfit – already has its own university, which has been located in the occupied territories for decades.

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