Landver. 'Entire government responsible'
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Absorption minister warns scientists may return to Russia
Some 150 immigrant scientists to be fired if no budget is found for program aimed at helping them integrate into Israeli academic activity
Exactly 20 years after the great immigration from the former Soviet Union, which brought many scientists to Israel,
a program aimed at helping immigrant scientists integrate into the Israeli academic world is about to be closed.
On Tuesday, the scientists plan to protest the budget cuts, which are forcing them to retire at the age of 67, a requirement which did not exist in the past.
If no budget is found for the program, some 150 scientists who immigrated to Israel will be fired and new scientists won't be admitted.
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Prof. Moshe Belinsky, chairman of the immigrant scientists association, said that "such an attitude towards scientists is simply discrimination. People who have invested many years in developing science in Israel are being thrown to the streets. All this is happening while the State is trying to return scientists who have left to Israel and prevent others from leaving."
Belinsky understands the difference between his people and scientists who receive their budgets regularly. "We are 'Russians,'" he says, "and they are not. The Finance Ministry cannot act this way. The prime minister also spoke about the importance of this plan several times."
Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver stressed that a coalition crisis may take place over the cutbacks in the immigration budget. Her party, Yisrael Beiteinu, is demanding that the Prime Minister's Office claim full responsibility and ensure that the full budget is transferred to the scientists' program.
"Yisrael Beiteinu promised in its election platform to make the program's funding a fixed part of the State Budget," the minister said. "As part of the efforts, the party's chairman, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, has ordered that the funds needed for financing the project in 2009 be transferred from the coalitional funds, and declared that this would be done for the last time."
'Treasury putting spokes in wheels'
"As the absorption of immigrant scientists is a strategic national mission of high importance," Landver stated, "from now on the entire Israeli government will be exclusively responsible for funding the program."
She stressed that the current funding of the program was at the expense of other important projects like the absorption of students and professional orientation of new immigrants and returning citizens.
The minister added that due to the project's strategic importance, she has instructed her office to continue funding it in any way possible, but that in order to safeguard the scientists' workplaces, the admission of new scientists has been stopped temporarily.
"Now the question is whether the Israeli government has a national strategic vision. On the one hand, the government and its head announce in public that they are willing to do everything to prevent a brain drain from Israel, while on the other hand, the Treasury is putting spokes in this project's wheels every single year," Landver said.
She added that this was even more serious considering the fact that the Russian government was raking real, efficient steps to attract the scientists who have left the country.
The Finance Ministry said in response that "the Absorption Ministry's budget, including the immigrant scientists program for the years 2009-2010, has been approved by the Knesset in accordance with a government decision on the extent of the discussed budget.
"It should be noted that as part of the discussions on the budget in question, the Finance and Absorption ministries agreed on an addition of NIS 200 million (about $52 million) to ministry, NIS 130 million ($34 million) of which would be transferred to the ministry as a budget addition during 2009-2010. So far, a sum of NIS 100 million ($26 million) from the discussed addition has already been transferred."
The Treasury added that "as part of the coalition agreements with the Yisrael Beiteinu faction, it was agreed to transfer additional budgets to the Immigrant Absorption Ministry, most of which have been transferred some time ago.
"Nonetheless, following a meeting between the finance minister and absorption minister on November 2, it was agreed that the ministries' professional ranks would hold talks to examine solutions for the budgetary issues raised by the Absorption Ministry. These discussions are still going on."
The Prime Minister's Office failed to comment on the matter.
