Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is proposing a reshuffle of Israel’s school calendar if the war continues past Passover, arguing that the current reliance on remote learning is failing both students and parents.
In a letter to Education Minister Yoav Kisch, Smotrich suggested moving part of the long summer vacation forward to the coming weeks, effectively turning the current period into an early break. Lost classroom time would then be made up during the summer months.
The logic is blunt: if kids aren’t really learning now, stop pretending they are and deal with it later.
Smotrich sharply criticized the current system of Zoom-based schooling, saying it “does not produce meaningful outcomes.” He argued that remote learning, especially for younger students, is largely ineffective and places an unreasonable burden on families trying to juggle work, childcare, and wartime disruptions.
He also framed the issue as an economic one, not just educational. Keeping children at home under a weak remote-learning model, he said, prevents many parents from returning to consistent work schedules, adding strain to an already pressured economy.
“There is no justification,” Smotrich wrote, “for maintaining a framework which does not deliver educational value while at the same time preventing parents from returning to work.”
