Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba yesterday opened its doors for the start of the academic year following the approval by the university’s executive committee of a balanced budget based on guidelines of the Planning and Grants Committee of the government’s Council for Higher Education.
All universities in Israel, apart from the Technion in Haifa, delayed the opening of their academic year because of budgetary problems. But the others opened after a week’s delay, leaving only the Beersheba institute still closed due to the lack of funds caused by cutbacks in government fundings to Israeli unversities.
Shlomo Gazit, president of Ben Gurion University, withdrew his earlier letter of resignation, telling the executive committee that his decision had been “greatly influenced by the messages of support from public figures in Israel and abroad and from the university’s academic and administrative staff.”
Gazit tendered his resignation on October 31 because of what he described as the “complete lack of understanding of the needs for higher education in Israel in general, and of the Ben Gurion University in particular.”
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