Ariel University
Photo: Ilan Arad
The High Court of Justice rejected Tuesday Israeli
universities' petition against declaring the Academic Center in Ariel as a university.
The three judges, led by Supreme Court Justice Asher Grunis, determined that the process of recognizing the institution as a university was done properly and that the Judea and Samaria council of education was not obligated to follow recommendations of the planning and budgeting committee of the education system.
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In July 2012, the Council for Higher Education in Judea and Samaria decided to declare the Ariel University Center of Samaria (AUCS) a full-fledged university.
Then Defense Minister Ehud Barak has instructed GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon to officially recognize the West Bank institution as a full-fledged university, as per Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein's recommendation.
In the following August, Israel's higher education institutes filed a petition with the High Court of Justice demanding that it rule against a decision to grant the Ariel College university status.
The universities said the status upgrade was not done in accordance with rules applied to academic institutions in Israel.
The High Court, however, determined on Tuesday that the upgrade was done according to regulations.
The Ariel University stated: "We are not surprised, as there were no grounds to the petition. We will continue to work and promote groundbreaking research."
Shahar Chai contributed to this report
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