Ariel University is unlikely to open a new medical school anytime soon although it had concrete plans to do so next fall, Israel Hayom learned Monday.
The university had to put its plans to inaugurate a medical school on hold after Deputy Attorney General Dina Silber ruled that an alleged conflict of interest involving a member of the Council for Higher Education's Planning and Budgeting Committee rendered her vote in favor of the school invalid.
Ariel University was founded in 1982 as the Ariel University Center of Samaria, a satellite of Bar-Ilan University. In 2004, it became an independent public college, and in 2012, it received full university status, a decision that sparked controversy because of its location over the Green Line.
A 2013 ruling by the High Court of Justice upheld its university status, and in July 2017, the Council for Higher Education approved its plans to launch what would have been Israel's sixth medical school by a vote of 4-2, with one abstention.
About 4,000 students currently study medicine at Israel's five medical schools: the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, and Bar-Ilan University's Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee.
Silber met recently with CHE heads to discuss the problem that budget committee member Dr. Rivka Wadmany-Shauman voted in favor of the university's request despite an apparent conflict of interest.
Wadmany-Shauman was reportedly slated to teach at the school.
CHE guidelines state that committee members are barred from voting on issues involving institutes in which they are employed or involved, to avoid conflicts of interest.
Silber ruled that given the appearance of a tainted vote, the CHE's Planning and Budgeting Committee would have to vote on the matter again.
However, a majority may prove difficult to achieve, given the controversial nature of the school.
The issue has been complicated further by the announcement Monday of early elections to be held April 9. The election could inject political motivations into any decision by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who chairs the Council for Higher Education.
A statement by Bennett's office said the minister "will study the decision and act accordingly."
Ariel University said in a statement that Wadmany-Shauman is not a faculty member and does not teach in any academic departments.
"Her status was discussed by the [university's] nominations committee and she was deemed a fellow professor. This status will come into force if and when Dr. Wadmany-Shauman is given an academic position at the university," the statement said.
The Justice Ministry confirmed that Silber met with CHE officials, saying it will make its final decision on whether the original vote is valid "in the near future."
