University lecturers on Sunday threatened to launch an open strike after the Sukkot holiday if the government did not meet their demands for higher salaries and increased budgets.
The union of Israeli universities announced Sunday that the 2007/2008 fall semester would not start if the government failed to implement recommendations by an independent commission to pump more money into higher education institutions by rolling back budget cuts among other measures.
In addition, 5,000 senior university lecturers have threatened to boycott the start of the academic year unless their demands for a pay raise are met.
The universities want the government to free NIS 300 million ($73 million) in withheld budgets. The Shohat Commission, which was appointed to look into ways to improve higher education in Israel, recommended that the government doll out NIS 2.5 billion on higher education over a period of five years.
"Last year we were at the same juncture. Back then were threatened not to start the new academic year because of ongoing cuts that threatened to collapse higher education. As a result of the same threat the Shohat Commission was established," said Moshe Kaveh, the President of Bar-Ilan University.
Kaveh said the recommendations made by the Shohat Commission presented a historical opportunity to strengthen Israel's higher education institutions and to counter the phenomenon of brain drain.