Student Association chair joins Kadima

Segev follows in footsteps of MKs Gila Gamliel, Tzahi Hanegbi, and Limor Livnat.

By TALYA HALKIN
asaf segev 298.88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
asaf segev 298.88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Asaf Segev, chair of the National Association of Students, has announced that he is resigning from his position to join Kadima. "I came to the conclusion that it was time for me to make some decisions," the 27-year-old Segev told the Jerusalem Post on Monday, the day following his announcement. For the past year and a half, Segev has chaired the National Student Association. Before that, he chaired the student association of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. "I've taken an active part in student life for five and a half years, and I was not identified with any political party, because I didn't want there to be a conflict of interests," said Segev, who is currently completing a BA in political science and international relations. "I've decided that I want to be part of a political party that will make decisions about the most important issues in Israel, and in order to be loyal to my values, I decided to resign." Segev said he believed in Kadima's candidates for the Education Ministry, and in their ability to bring about positive change and to rehabilitate the country's education system. The two most important issues they would face, he said, was enlarging higher education budgets and continue reducing academic tuition fees, which would enable access to higher education. Last year, Segev was one of the leaders of the student struggle to halt cuts in the higher education budget, and later participated in negotiations with Shinui, following which an additional NIS 300 million were transferred to the higher education budget. By leaving a position as a student leader to enter national politics, Segev is following in the footsteps of other Knesset members, including Gila Gamliel, Tzahi Hanegbi, and Limor Livnat. Segev, however, had few kind words for Livnat, who served as Education Minister during the time he was a student activist. "She could have managed things differently - not only with the students, but also with other sectors within the education system," Segev said of Livnat. "Instead of listening to us and fighting at our side, however, we felt that she was fighting us." "Just like the Minister of Health and Defense work to enlarge the budgets of those ministries, it should be clear that the Education Minister's role is to do the same for the education system," he said. "I think the next Education Minister will have a lot of work on his hands."