Outgoing Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday authorized upgrading Ariel University Center (AUC) official university status, just hours after Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein reiterate his support for the move.
Barak had approved upgrading Ariel’s status from college to university in 2010, but had since delayed the implementation of that decision. Right-wing MKs have criticized him over the issue, accusing him of having ulterior motives and promoting his own political agenda.
Earlier in the day, Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein penned a letter to OC Central Command Maj.- Gen. Nitzan Alon, recommending he proceed with the process of recognizing Ariel College (AUC) as a university.
Weinstein advised that there was no reason to delay to process of granting AUC university status, in line with a July decision by the Council for Higher Education in Judea and Samaria, and despite petitions filed with the High Court of Justice by Israeli university presidents.
Since Ariel is in the West Bank, which is under the IDF’s authority, the signature of Alon is required for the change in status. However, Alon can sign only after receiving instructions from Barak, and the defense minister had until now refused to issue any directives in the matter.
Israel’s largest public college, AUC was founded in 1982 as a branch of Bar-Ilan University but became independent in 2004 when it began to seek university status.
Eighty-five percent of its students live within the Green Line.
Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar expressed "satisfaction" over the decision. "An important process has been completed during the current government term - a process which I led despite numerous irrelevant objections," Sa'ar said. "Making the AUC Israel's eighth university is the right move for the country's higher education system."