The struggle over the nature of civics studies in Israeli schools has reached a new low: the Civil Service Commission is now conducting an inquiry into the actions of Civic Education Inspector Adar Cohen. The issue under examination is whether he allegedly committed ethical offenses, including changing the minutes of the Civics Professional Committee.

During the last two years, Inspector Adar Cohen has found himself at the center of the struggle between the Education Ministry and academia over the nature of the civics curriculum, considered to be the most sensitive subject in the educational system.

Recently, an appeal was filed in the Civil Service Commission regarding several ethical claims raised against Cohen. One of them has to do with changes that Cohen allegedly made in the final protocol (minutes) that summarize the decisions made by the Civics Professional Committee. These decisions will affect the civics curriculum that will be studied by Israeli students in schools.

In one of the committee’s discussions, an argument had taken place regarding whether to include the Palestinian narrative regarding the events of 1948 (Israel’s War of independence in 1948, named “Nakba” or “disaster” by the Palestinians) in addition to the Israeli narrative, or to feature only the Zionistic approach.

After a vote was taken and it was decided to include only the Zionist narrative, it was claimed that Cohen made changes in the discussion summary that he wrote. A member of the Civics Professional Committee did add that “the Inspector is the one who writes the protocol and he is allowed to add comments. Only after these comments were authorized is the wording was changed accordingly.”

Cohen himself turned to the administration of the Ministry of Education and requested a comprehensive inquiry regarding the charges directed at him, simultaneously with the inquiry of the Civil Service Commission.

Previous ministers of the Education Ministry have also deal with political issues connected to the curriculum regarding the circumstances leading to the establishment of the State of Israel and the character of the state. In many cases, previous ministers left their mark on changes to the civics curriculum.

During the tenure of present Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar (Likud), several changes were made in personnel that affected the civics curriculum. At first, Zvi Tzameret was appointed to the post of chairman of the Pedagogical Secretariat (the person responsible for all the curricula of the Education Ministry).

Afterwards it was decided not to extend the tenure of Professor Yedidia Stern as Chairman of the Civics Professional Committee, and Professor Asher Cohen was appointed in his stead. These changes led to disqualification of the previous civics book, Being Citizens of Israel, after it was criticized for its use of post-Zionistic expressions and historical errors.

The Education Ministry chose not to respond to this matter.

Supporters of the supervisor say that “an orchestrated ideological campaign is being waged against him to depose him.”

“This is a campaign that started long ago, an attempt to target me as a public officer who has professionally and rightfully fulfilled his duties as empowered by an Education Ministry that has also backed me,” wrote Cohen on the heels of an article published about him in Makor Rishon newspaper. “I feel that others … in the public sector … who are given to personal attacks that are not necessarily connected to their true personalities or their professional decisions. Past high-placed officials in the highest ranks of the Education Ministry who did not agree with my fundamental positions and viewpoints are now using perverse methods to defame and blacken my name and my personal and professional integrity.”

A superior in the Education Ministry who sides with Cohen explains that Cohen faces a “groundless mudslinging campaign with one objective: imposing a conservative approach on civic studies and an attempt to dismiss the last liberal.”

Professor Dan Avnon, Director of the School of Public Policy and Government in Hebrew University, argues that “an orchestrated campaign is being conducted with the objective of dismissing the civic education inspector because he promotes civic studies in a format that is disapproved of by a few people. A clique of people with a certain ideological agenda marked him as a man who must be removed, and they don’t let up. If a professional on the level of Cohen is dismissed from the Education Ministry, that would reflect very poorly on the ministry. Mainly, it would be a very poor civics lesson.

“The Education Ministry’s administration tends to emphasize the Zionist and nationalistic elements of civics studies. In the last two years, after the previous Professional Committee chairman was switched, the Pedagogical Secretariat now promotes an agenda that places an emphasis on nationalistic values at the expense of civil values. This is legitimate, but the attempt to blacken Adar’s professional work — work that has earned tremendous esteem among civics teachers in Israel — is not legitimate.”