The Ariel University Center of Samaria's bid to become Israel's eighth university will reach another milestone on Sunday when the Israeli government approves a resolution in favor of upgrading the Ariel institution. It will be the first Israeli university beyond the Green Line. Although the resolution is non-binding, it would nonetheless make it easier for the IDF Central Command the de-facto accreditation body in Judea and Samaria to finalize the approval process for the university, which has been in the works for several years. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expects a majority of his ministers to back the resolution over the objection of his ally, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who believes it would be premature to have the government decide on the matter due to the outstanding legal issues surrounding the decision. Several months ago when the Judea and Samaria Higher Education Council voted to upgrade the center, the heads of almost all Israeli universities petitioned the High Court of Justice to thwart the move before it becomes official. Barak, who is also worried about the possible backlash this might generate overseas, has so far refused to instruct the IDF to sign-off on the proposal and has deferred to the courts and Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein. This has been a great frustration for Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, both of whom are among the most vocal champions of this cause. The Judea and Samaria Higher Education Council is not affiliated with the Education Ministry's Council for Higher Education and reports directly to the IDF Central Command due to Judea and Samaria's unique legal status. The strong opposition from other universities stems from their concern that the new university would take away much-needed funding from their institutions. They have warned that another university would merely redistribute the student population in that region, rather than help peripheral communities in Israel, and could create a dangerous precedent for other colleges. At a political conference this week, Lieberman attacked Barak for his policy on the issue, saying that the current government's coalition agreement mandates upgrading the Ariel center and thus overrides Barak's objections. "Barak signed Article 64 in the coalition agreement," Lieberman said, "which stipulates that the Ariel center is to become a university; I am not about to let go of this issue; if this does not move forward, all hell will break loose." In fact, the article Lieberman is referring to is a section of his party, Yisrael Beytenu's, coalition agreement, which Barak's Independence party is not signed on. The Independence party has it's own, separation coalition agreement as part of Netanyahu's government. Netanyahu, it seems, has decided to throw his weight behind the move despite the diplomatic and political ramifications this might entail. The draft language of the resolution says the "government regards the accreditation of the Ariel University Center as a university as a matter of national importance." The resolution goes on to say that the new university and its student population would bolster the higher education system in Israel and instructs government agencies to take appropriate measures to have it accredited and properly funded. The preamble to the resolution makes note of the fact that over the past five years, the Ariel University Center of Samaria has met all the necessary criteria to qualify for an upgrade. The government resolution would make the Ariel center stand on equal footing with other universities if the IDF approves its new status.
