"The higher education reform is about to turn into a revolution that will change higher education in Israel from the ground up," Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said during a meeting with the Manufacturers Association of Israel on Thursday.
"We cut back on security and transferred billions to higher education," Steinitz said. "We will absorb hundreds and thousands of doctors and professors who left the country. We will return them here.
"The success of the State of Israel so far has been based on the high caliber of our entrepreneurs, technicians, engineers and scientists, but over the past 20 years the developing industries flourished and prospered while the academic field that gave rise to them has crashed," he added. "The reform that we have created will change all that."
Steinitz and Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar stated in August 2010 that the education system's budget will be increased by NIS 7.5 billion (roughly $2.1 billion) over the next six years. Steinitz stressed that the increase would not have been possible without a $3 billion (roughly $838 million) cut in the security budget.
'Israel needs presidential government system'
Steinitz, who is known for his support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ,surprised the audience Thursday when he declared his intention to promote an alternate form of government.
"We have a governability problem," he said. "We need to switch to a presidential system, with one person who has full control.
"We have proved in recent years, while dealing with the financial crisis, that we function better when our authorities cooperate amongst themselves, but there are areas where they are not coordinated." He added. "Democracy is not anarchy, democracy is a strong government that operates transparently and in a orderly manner."
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