Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Education Minister Yoav Kisch, and other ministers were set to discuss on Monday the next steps for the education system in the shadow of the war with Iran that has left the country’s 2.5 million children stuck at home for five weeks since the outbreak of hostilities.

The meeting, which will cover a range of national issues, will include Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Kisch said in a statement. Education will be one of the topics on the agenda.

Israel and the US launched their campaign against Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its nuclear and ballistic missile capacities. Iran has responded with missile and drone strikes across the region, including at Israel, forcing the closure of schools as a precaution.

Ordinarily, schools in Israel would reopen on Thursday after the end of the week-long Passover holiday. This year, the education system used online video teaching to provide some sessions for students after the war started, which continued until a break started shortly before Passover.

Kisch said the current instructional framework, which allows in-person learning only in areas designated by the Home Front Command as having a lower risk of attacks, will be extended at least until the end of the week, provided there is no change in the HFC guidelines. The decision was made after discussion with representatives of the local authorities and parents, among others.

The Home Front Command typically conducts assessments every two or three days.

Under the current guidelines, areas of the country are designated as yellow and orange. In the former, provided that a shelter........

© The Times of Israel