Tibi demands diplomas in Arabic

Arab MK's appeal to education minister turns into Knesset debate on Israel's official languages

Roni Sofer|Published: 12.22.10 , 15:36

MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) demanded Wednesday that the Israeli education system issue high-school diplomas in Arabic, sparking a stormy nationality debate.

The Education Ministry ceased issuing Arabic high-school diplomas in the '70s, forcing students who go on to study in Arab countries, such as Jordan, to pay money to translate the certificates in order to be accepted into institutes of higher learning – despite the fact that Arabic is an official language in Israel.

Tibi appealed to Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar on the matter, arguing that the ministry must fund the initiative. "Not everything is about money, sometimes the message is no less important," he said.

"I challenge you, Mr. Education Minister, to change the reality harming thousands of students who want to study in Arab-speaking countries."

MK Nissim Zeev (Shas) intervened at this stage, arguing that Hebrew is Israel's official language and that Tibi was trying to turn the country into "a bi-national state".

But Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin responded, "Don't be ignorant. Arabic is an official language in Israel. The official language should be on every document. Maybe we should prohibit them from speaking Arabic, too?"

Sa'ar, who eventually answered Tibi from the podium, said the upgrading of the computer systems at every high school would require millions in funding.

"Higher education in Israel is in Hebrew, not Arabic, and the question is how many students would profit from this. If the number is in the thousands we need to set priorities," he said.