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Millions of Israeli Students Return to School Amid Teacher Shortage

Some 2.6 million Israeli students began the new school year on Tuesday, with political leaders visiting schools across the country. However, the occasion is shadowed by a significant teacher shortage, with 30,871 positions unfilled, particularly in Hebrew, mathematics, science, and English.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 distinct · 1 masthead · 1 article Version 1 Coverage Sep 1, 2026 Published 22h ago

School Year Opens for Millions Across Israel

Some 2.6 million Israeli students returned to school on Tuesday, including around 180,000 children entering first grade. Political leaders marked the occasion by visiting schools across the country.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to open the school year in Ramla alongside Education Minister Yoav Kisch. Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana visited Ma’ale Adumim, while President Isaac Herzog and his wife visited institutions in Ein Hamifratz and Sheikh Danun.

Gadi Eisenkot was expected in Nahariya. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was participating in several events in Rishon LeZion, including the inauguration of a new institution and a kindergarten complex.

Teacher Shortage Raises Concerns

The return to school comes at a challenging time for the Israeli education system, which is facing a significant staff shortage. According to an analysis by the Central Bureau of Statistics, there is a shortage of 30,871 teachers in the country.

The greatest educational needs are in Hebrew, with 12,799 positions unfilled, and in mathematics, where the deficit reached 10,255 teachers. There is also a shortage of 4,389 science teachers and 3,428 English teachers.

Salaries remain a central issue in the sector's difficulties. A beginner teacher earns about 7,000 shekels, compared to around 22,300 shekels for an experienced teacher.

International Ranking Highlights Skills Gap

A recent study based on an international survey conducted in 2022 and 2023 ranks Israeli teachers 17th out of the 20 developed countries studied in terms of skills.

How this outlet told it

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i24NEWS

Framing: The main event: the scale of the return to school

as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC

Facts Included:

2.6 million Israeli students are returning to school on Tuesday
around 180,000 children entering first grade
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to open the school year in Ramla alongside Education Minister Yoav Kisch
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana is visiting Ma’ale Adumim
President Isaac Herzog and his wife are visiting institutions in Ein Hamifratz and Sheikh Danun
Gadi Eisenkot is expected in Nahariya
former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is participating in several events in Rishon LeZion, including the inauguration of a new institution and a kindergarten complex
shortage of 30,871 teachers in the country
12,799 positions unfilled in Hebrew
deficit reached 10,255 teachers in mathematics
shortage of 4,389 science teachers and 3,428 English teachers
A beginner teacher earns about 7,000 shekels, compared to around 22,300 shekels for an experienced teacher
Israeli teachers rank 17th out of the 20 developed countries studied in terms of skills

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What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
Claim2.6 million Israeli students are returning to school on Tuesday	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
Claimaround 180,000 children are entering first grade	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
ClaimIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to open the school year in Ramla alongside Education Minister Yoav Kisch	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
ClaimKnesset Speaker Amir Ohana is visiting Ma'ale Adumim.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
ClaimPresident Isaac Herzog and his wife are visiting institutions in Ein Hamifratz and Sheikh Danun.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
ClaimGadi Eisenkot is expected in Nahariya, while former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is participating in several events in Rishon LeZion, including the inauguration of a new institution and a kindergarten complex.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
ClaimGadi Eisenkot is expected in Nahariya	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
Claimformer Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is participating in several events in Rishon LeZion	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
ClaimAccording to an analysis by the Central Bureau of Statistics, there is a shortage of 30,871 teachers in the country.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
ClaimThe greatest educational needs are in Hebrew, with 12,799 positions unfilled	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
ClaimThere is a shortage of 10,255 teachers in mathematics	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
ClaimThere is a shortage of 4,389 science teachers and 3,428 English teachers.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
ClaimA recent study based on a survey from 2022 and 2023 ranks Israeli teachers 17th among developed countries in terms of skills.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
ClaimIsraeli teachers rank 17th in terms of skills out of the developed countries studied.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via i24NEWS as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 distinct · 1 masthead · 1 article consulted: i24NEWS 14 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-01