The theft and sale of a matriculation mathematics exam that was to be given nationally next Monday had the Knesset in an uproar today, set in motion a police investigation and seriously embarrassed the Ministry of Education only just taken over by the National Religious Party (NRP).
Education Minister Zevulun Hammer humbly admitted to a shocked Knesset chamber that the exam had been stolen and was being sold widely for a high price. He said it has been withdrawn and that a new exam was under preparation and would be ready by Monday. Hammer’s admission came after MK Charlie Biton of the Rakah-Democratic Front faction, a former Black Panther, produced a copy of the exam in the Knesset.
He said it had been purchased for IL 4500, about $450. Biton claimed the same price was being paid for stolen English exams and that anyone could buy a purloined physics exam for IL2000 and a Talmud exam for only IL1000. He said he was led to the source by a student who promised to tell all to the police if he was granted immunity.
Eliezer Shmueli, Director General of the Education Ministry, compared the “leak” to the theft of the Pentagon papers. One MK demanded that Shmueli resign and if he refused, “it is the Minister’s duty to fire him.”
An official complaint was filed with the police today. Top officials of the Education Ministry, including three mathematics teachers who were involved in preparing the exam, are expected to be questioned. Students have been asked to disclose any information they may have about the theft.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
