B"He ordered the Minister of Education Yoav Kish to explain why the Israel Prize was canceled

The High Court today (Thursday) ordered the Minister of Education Yoav Kish to explain why he decided to cancel the Israel Award in most areas, and to distribute it only in the areas of civil heroism and mutual guarantee. In addition, two companies and the Israel Award Committee requested to join the respondent side in the petition, without publishing their names.

The cancellation of most of the categories in the award caused an uproar in the world of academia, and according to the journalist Ben Caspit, the reason for this is the alleged winning of Eyal Waldman, the founder of “Melanox” and according to Caspit who was to win the Israel Prize in the field of entrepreneurship. The National Academy of Sciences and other academic organizations strongly criticized the decision. The petition was submitted by a number of academic organizations, and now the OMT movement for the administration of standards and social justice, and a number of high-tech companies, including “Neis” and others, have joined the petition.

Minister Kish did not express himself publicly and directly on the issue, but only through the legal adviser of the Ministry of Education, Shanit Harel, who stated that “the discretion exercised by the minister was reasonable and proportionate under the circumstances presented”, and that this is a “temporary order” – which constitutes a “temporary and one- one time due to the unusual events”. According to Harel, “there is no damage to science and spirit in the decision or a victory for Israel’s enemies. The prizes in the fields of science and spirit were not canceled but only postponed, and prizes were added whose main concern is the revival from the crisis while adapting to the events of the time.”