Rivlin: 'One can love Ariel without deriding academia'

President Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin spoke today, Tuesday 6 November / 28 Cheshvan at the Seventh Higher Education Conference, held this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the Council for Higher Education and the 70th anniversary of Israel's independence. Minister of Education Naftali Bennet and Chair of the Planning and Budgeting Committee Prof. Yaffa Zilbershats also spoke at the conference.

"We are marking Israel's 70th anniversary and 60 years of the Council for Higher Education. The State of Israel was founded on a vision, a far-sighted and far-reaching vision, "said the president at the beginning of his remarks. "Nobel laureates, a state of the art, innovation, learning and research make the world a better place each day."

The president continued, "I take the opportunity to say to you, Minister of Education, with deep affection, appreciation and honesty: one can love Ariel without deriding academia. I had the privilege to support Ariel University. We were much taken by the words of President Efraim Katzir who said that there is no place in the world. I am a strong supporter of Ariel University and for its inclusion in the Committee of University Heads. Yet, a statement like 'we have broken the cartel of universities', causes bread. These are the institutions I am most proud of, and we have a shared goal: that we have a flourishing Jewish and democratic state is an independent, excellent, higher education sector free of political influence. The fundamental dream of intellectual independence and the courage to dare, these are the building blocks of the state and they are the foundations of our culture. We are a stiff-necked people. We do not defer, rather we debate. We do not bow our heads, rather we try to understand. We are not here we are told, rather seek alternatives. That's how the start-up was built, inventors, researchers, creators and programmers grew up here. "

The president spoke about the "new campus," established on the initiative of the Council for Higher Education and under the leadership of the Chair of Planning and Budgeting Committee, and said: "Since I took office, together with the Chair of Planning and Budgeting Committee, the universities and colleges, I have been promoting the Israeli Hope initiative in academia. This is a plan to prepare for a new Israeli agenda in which academia is the first and last place that students from all sectors of society meet before joining the world of work. One of our strategic goals is' to strengthen the links between academia and employment and to raise academia's commitment to employment outcomes for its graduates, particularly in the Arab and Haredi sectors. Changing reality of employment, but also for the changing Israeli reality, "said the president and continued," only recently we read about the difficulties of making higher education accessible to Haredi men, and this week figures were released about a slow-down in the inclusion of Haredi people in the workforce. These are warning signs for our society and our economy. I am convinced that the new campus initiative can address this dual challenge – both linking academia to employment and the need to include Arab and Haredi society in fair employment. I believe that Israeli academia can not look at a new Israeli society as a bystander, but must play an active, creative and meaningful role in it.

The President congratulated those who play a role in this national and social undertaking, and the recipients of the Higher Education Prize, Professor Moshe Kave, Professor Ayelet Shavit, and Professor Uriel Reichman, and said: "Your awards are excellent. with strengthening our society and our country. I congratulate you, my friend Professor Reichman, on your ground-breaking academy, which has become a reality and an achievement that has influenced the sector as a whole. "