Israel’s Ministry of Education is set to pay a quarter of a million shekels (more than $70,000) to Channel 14 for sponsorship of its Jewish Identity Conference, which will take place in the channel’s studios later this month. This sponsorship comes after Minister of Education Yoav Kisch (Likud), unveiled a new program to boost Jewish and Zionist identity in Israeli schools. 

Channel 14 is widely seen as a pro-government and right-wing channel. An analysis of its coverage of the issue of Jewish identity quickly reveals headlines like ‘How progressive ideologies harmed the IDF and the institutions of state’ and ‘Only Jewish identity can strengthen Israel: Noam Party’s new campaign.’ The channel’s editorial line, it seems, fits in perfectly with Kisch’s political agenda. In the Ministry of Education's request for approval for the funding, officials state that “the nature of the agreement, which involves sponsoring a public event with significant media exposure, necessitates a complete alignment with the supplier’s initiative.”

The document also stressed that “Channel 14 appeals to unique audiences, with an attachment to Jewish tradition and to Zionism; a population that shows a deep interest in the policies of the Ministry of Education in the area of Jewish identity. There is no other platform that appeals to these audiences.”

Channel 14’s Jewish Identity Conference will be broadcast on terrestrial and digital platforms and will last four hours. In exchange for its 250,000 shekels sponsorship of the event, the Ministry of Education’s logo will appear on screen, the moderators will mention the name of the ministry’s new Jewish identity program, representatives of the ministry may be invited to appear on certain panels and the right to reuse material from the conference for professional purposes.

Kisch’s new program is called Shorashim (roots). According to its outline bible studies will now be part of the Meitzav (the Hebrew acronym for School Effectiveness and Growth Indices) standardized tests and a new core subject will be introduced – the Paths of Heritage curriculum, which will include compulsory visits to national and Jewish heritage sites, including those in the West Bank.

A recent investigation by Haaretz found that Kisch’s new program was drafted with the help of an organization whose members are close to MK Avi Maoz, chairman of the openly homophobic Noam Party, and that pluralistic content that is currently taught in schools is likely to be adversely affected by the reform.

To preempt any possible criticism of the agreement with Channel 14, the Ministry of Education stated that it has entered into similar deals over the years to sponsor conferences organized by a diverse selection of media outlets, “including Ynet, Israel Hayom and others. By participating in the conference, the ministry maintains the administrative principle of equality and partnership with all media organizations – and excluding them would go against the approach that the ministry has promoted for years.”

Shomrim asked the Ministry of Education to explain its criteria for deciding how much money to spend sponsoring a media-organized conference, whether similar sums had been given to other media outlets for similar conferences and what connection there is between the conference and the Shorashim program. Ministry officials chose to ignore those questions and instead wrote that “All contracts are made according to binding procedures and receive the necessary legal and administrative approvals. Any attempt to describe the process differently is false and biased.”