On March 15, thousands of new immigrants to Israel will have to find new ways to learn Hebrew, as a sudden pullout of funds by the Jewish Agency will force the closure of dozens of ulpanim, schools for the intensive study of Hebrew. The news was broken by an alarmed letter attained by Israel Hayom that was sent by Absorption Ministry Director Dimitri Apartsev to the heads of the Education Ministry, the Jewish Agency and the Prime Ministers Office, as well as to the cabinet secretary. As a result of the Jewish Agencys unilateral announcement to cease funding the ulpanim for new immigrants, I must warn that starting March 15 ulpan activity will be halted, Apartsev wrote. He claims that the Absorption Ministry had tried to discuss matters with the Jewish Agency, but that planned meetings had been delayed three times by the agency, and a new date had not been scheduled. Ulpanim are funded by the Absorption Ministry, the Education Ministry and the Jewish Agency. While the agencys contribution is around 8 percent of the ulpan budget, it supplies the essential materials for ulpanim to function, from school supplies to the actual classrooms. Officials at the Absorption Ministry worry that the agencys inability to fund its share of the budget will mean no physical space for thousands of new immigrants to study. The Education Ministry issued a statement in response, saying, The ministry takes part in running the ulpanim and does so with vast budgetary resources, and will be part of running the program in the future as well. The Jewish Agency also responded, saying, The letter reflects the current situation and is motivated by professional considerations. It is not right for a developed country to have basic absorption needs to be reliant on foreign donations. Also, since it is only 8 percent, we will not abandon the project until the government steps in for us.
