Eight Demands for a Better Israel, Written by Its Youth
Ahead of Israel’s elections, young people from HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed, Dror Israel’s associated youth movement, are calling on elected leaders to put education first.
Their campaign, “Who’s Asking You?”, presents eight demands for a better education system, shaped by their own experiences as students and youth counselors.
Below is the English translation of their charter.
Who’s Asking You?
Putting Education First: Ahead of the Elections, We Choose Education!
We are members of HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed, the Working and Studying Youth movement, and current and former students of the public education system. In recent years, we have experienced this system firsthand.
Through years of pandemic, polarization, and emergency, we, as young people serving as youth counselors, have worked to adapt the movement to our participants, to be flexible, make an effort, and find solutions, while the education system has remained frozen.
Education in Israel is in crisis. It can and must be better. It can and must adapt to the new world, to our lives amid never-ending wars, and to technology. Education is the foundation of the State of Israel’s future, and every child living here deserves a good future. We are no longer willing to remain silent!
Now, as a government is about to be elected, we, the youth, demand that all political parties, those who will hold the education portfolio, and all elected representatives in Israel finally put us at the top of their priorities.
Join us and sign the charter calling for equal, values-based, and relevant education for everyone.
Eight Principles for Change
1. Boycott the Boycott: Enough Violence in Schools!
School must be a safe space. A reality of social exclusion and bullying, both inside and outside school, is a danger we must not accept. The system must intervene and actively address it. The time has come for those who make decisions about our education, and to whom we look for leadership, to stop boycotting one another and set a personal example.
2. Equality in Education: Quality Public Education for Every Child!
Quality, equal education for every child in Israel is the state’s responsibility! Education is not a privilege. The time has come when the place where we were born and our parents’ financial situation should no longer determine the quality of our education. We all deserve an equal opportunity, and the state must guarantee it. The education budget must be increased, and a long-term plan must be created to strengthen public education in Israel.
3. Teachers First: Raising the Status of Teachers in Israel!
Our teachers deserve more. Base salaries must be raised, mechanisms must be created to prevent the erosion of their pay, and new ways must be found to attract new teachers to the system! In-depth training and ongoing guidance must be developed to help teachers address emotional and behavioral difficulties so that they can be meaningful figures in our lives. When the system respects teachers, students and parents will respect them too.
4. The Next Generation: Adapting the Education System to the Challenges of the Future!
School must adapt to the world we are growing up in: a world of technology that changes from day to day. Instead of talking about replacing teachers with AI, the system must rebuild itself to strengthen human interaction and our interpersonal skills. Alongside appropriate and critical use of artificial intelligence, it must develop independent inquiry, creativity, and learning skills, and establish values and tools for life in an evolving world.
5. A Common Foundation: Mandatory Core Studies for Everyone!
A united society is based on historical knowledge and a shared story. Schools throughout the country must be required to teach Hebrew, English, mathematics, science, and civics. We demand close oversight to prevent gaps, and the adaptation of the material taught to today’s reality in order to prepare us for independent lives. Every community has the right to add subjects in keeping with its beliefs, way of life, religion, language, and so on. But the time has come for the state to take responsibility for all its students and give everyone an equal foundation with which to begin their lives!
6. Give Us Space: Enough Overcrowding in Classrooms!
We cannot concentrate, and our teacher cannot teach, when there are 30 children in the classroom. The average in Israel stands at 27.4 students per class, compared with 20.6 in the OECD. When classrooms are overcrowded, teachers are forced to deal with behavioral problems instead of education. We demand smaller classes.
We deserve it.
7. Education in Times of Crisis: Preparing for and Responding to Education During Emergencies!
Even during war, education must not stop. We must prepare in advance with an emergency education plan that provides a relevant and flexible response to the realities of children’s and young people’s lives. Learning on Zoom has failed. This approach deepens gaps and leaves us discouraged. We demand real solutions for sustained learning during emergencies that will provide a sense of security.
8. Youth Educating Youth: Investing in Youth Movements!
Informal education has tremendous power. The state must provide youth movements with the budgets, conditions, and resources we need to continue leading change in society. Why do some children in this country get to have a youth movement while others do not? The impact of the youth movement on our lives is decisive.
Who’s Asking Us?!
We call on the general public!
On October 27, 2026, elections will be held for the 26th Knesset.
Our demands come from what we have experienced firsthand. Three years of relentless war and a system unprepared to meet our needs. Three years of meteoric advances in artificial intelligence. Three years in which we have discovered just how painful it is that some students take part in youth movements while others have not been given the opportunity, and that some students study core subjects while others do not. If this situation continues, there will be no future for our magnificent country, which you built, safeguarded, and defended all these years.
Education is the foundation of society and the state, and this call comes from the depths of our hearts.
We call on you to stand beside us and demand that elected representatives put education first. We do not have the right to vote. You are our voice at the ballot box! Examine the parties’ platforms, demand that they present funded, practical action plans with clear goals, and vote for a party that puts us at the center.
Do you agree with us? Do you want a better education system for all our children and young people?
Sign the charter now!
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