The Education Ministry has suspended Dr. Hani Mousa, the head of its language
department, who had recently acquired the position.
Mousa had been
appointed to the job about a year ago and was the first person from the Arab
sector to hold the position.
Prior to his nomination, Mousa, who holds
several academic degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, had worked as
the ministry’s superintendent of Hebrew studies for 14 years, Reshet Bet
reported on Tuesday morning.
When Education Ministry appointed him as
leader of the language department, it stated that Mousa “achieved great success
in his role as the superintendent of Hebrew studies and developed expertise in
the field among the Arab sector, increasing the percentage of Arab students
finishing five units of study in the subject.”
A ministry spokesman told
The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that Mousa had only been in the position for a
six-month trial period that was then extended by another six months. A year
later, the ministry has decided he was not suited for the job and dismissed
him.
People close to Mousa said he was very saddened about the decision,
according to Reshet Bet, which also reported that the person who was supposed to
replace him as the Hebrew superintendent filed a lawsuit against the ministry
for unexpectedly leaving him without a job.
Ben Hartman contributed to
this report.