As the topic of how the Ultra-Orthodox community in New York has taken nearly 1 billion dollars in government aid, but not applied it to improve the secular education of their yeshivas gains steam, the focus shifts to the Haredi community in Israel and how they are managing the balance between Torah and subjects that can help their students succeed in a modern world.
Historically, the Ultra-Orthodox have shunned secular learning. In New York, it is enraging taxpayers who see the failure of the yeshivas to provide a viable education to a generation that will almost surely, wind up on the public welfare rolls. In Israel, because of the political structure, it is less spoken about, but it is rapidly becoming a major problem for the nation as a whole.
Despite the relative standstill in which the high-tech industry’s growth is in, the demand for workers is still high. Most recently, the Israeli government approved the national plan for the increase and development of human capital in high-tech. The plan can be summed up into a huge flow of cash that is designed to assure the continued success and advancement of the entire industry.
The plan includes a few action items that the government will execute. Being a transitional government, the entirety of actions and fiscal movements will not be pushed immediately. Still, some of the new program’s decisions will begin before the upcoming election.
The main step in the plan approved is the implementation of a new structure in the education system. The new program is designed for assimilating technological, cognitive, and digital skills necessary for integration into the 21st-century labor market. Some of the world's most successful tech companies rely on Israel for the research and development of new products and functions. From Google, which is developing a $1.2 Billion data storage capability called 'Nimbus' to Microsoft, which develeoped a new streaming capability with Israeli company Peer5, the opportunities in the sector are vast.
Absurd! A tiny group of Anti-Israel activists protested outside Google & Amazon in Seattle and NY to pressure them into cancelling “Project Nimbus” a $1.2 billion project for data storage with Israel. Extremists “as-a-Jew” @JVP of course backs the campaignhttps://t.co/hhyLxRRzcD
A pilot version of the educational program has already begun this year with approximately 600 eighth graders in approximately 120 schools and approximately 1,500 compulsory kindergartens, with the ministry intending to expand the program to additional eighth and ninth graders in the following year while giving priority to the periphery. The plan will eventually reach the level of implementation in all schools.
In addition, the government has adopted the Perlmutter report from the finance committee for human capital in high-tech, headed by Dedi Perlmutter. According to the report, the government should use a new method of counting tech professions, so that even programmers at a bank for example will be included.
Israel Gives Green Light to Nationwide Plan to Boost High-Tech Workforce https://t.co/xErCfzOv3l
Additionally, Israel is adopting the Israel Tech program, which is designed to locate and bring professionals who are entitled to become citizens, into the country and its booming, world-renowned tech industry.
According to the announcement, the goal is to integrate at least 1,500 employees in the years 2022-2026. Apart from this, the government states that it will increase by 2,000 the number of foreign experts coming to Israel to work in high-tech companies, in the years 2022-2026.
In order to help meet the target, the Innovation Authority will open a support center for the high-tech industry, which will assist high-tech companies in removing bureaucratic barriers that make it difficult to bring workers into the high-tech industry from abroad.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid stated that: "I welcome the proposal and the cooperation with the Minister of Innovation, Orit Perkash and the Minister of Education Yifat Shasha Biton. We are committed to dramatically strengthening the Israeli high-tech market. High-tech education from an early age and the expansion of representation and positions are necessary steps, this is true and valuable And economically correct. Our government does not speak in terms of preserving the existing, but of breaking forward. Israel has the data and the potential to be one of the ten most successful countries in the world, this plan is a good start to that."
Today, Shani Dadon lives in an upscale neighborhood of Tel Aviv. It was not always like this for her, Shani was born into and lived under the extremist, ultra-Orthodox sect 'Shuvu Banim' until the age of 14. The cult is famously known for the followers' resemblance to Muslim extremists in Afghanistan. The females, adhering to strict dress codes that prevent their faces or any skin from being shown, are called "Taliban Women" in the closed Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Lapid held discussions with senior security officials, fearing that an increase of terror-related incidents in the West Bank will lead to a third Palestinian uprising, referred to as an 'intifada'. A political official said that "the Palestinian Security Services must increase their activity to avoid a dangerous escalation." Lapid’s emergency meeting took place in the Israel Defense Forces' intelligence headquarters in Tel Aviv known as 'The Kirya', with the goal of examining immediate actions to stabilize the security situation in the West Bank.
A soldier who had mistaken a teenager with special needs for a potential terrorist and killed him in May of 2020, sent a letter to Yair Lapid in which he referred to a speech the Prime Minister gave at an Army graduation ceremony. He wrote, "I am acting as a lead actor in an international play. My commanders said in the field that I acted correctly. You have said that soldiers have the backing of the government. I expect this backing." Many in Israel believe the border patrol agent is being offered up as a 'sacrificial lamb' to appease anti-Israel protesters who seized on recent events to protest the Jewish State.
Lapid delivered the speech after criticism came from the United States along with a request to change the Israel Defense Forces' engagement policies after the death of Al-Jazeera journalist, Shireen Abu Aqla. The border patrol officer, referred to as 'A' in Israel over concerns for the safety of him and his family, is on trial for killing the disturbed boy in Jerusalem in what turned out to be a case of mistaken identity, heard Lapid's speech and responded to the Prime Minister in a letter that was published by several media outlets.