Makor HaTikvah, the only government-funded primary school for Messianic Jewish children in Jerusalem, has earned the right to continue operating–at least through the end of the school year.
According to the Jerusalem Institute of Justice (JIJ), “The Court ruled that Makor HaTikvah will stay open until the end of the present school year, and have the opportunity to receive a license for the next school year, based upon the standard requirements of the State.”
The school’s quest to receive state recognition has been a three-year process, but the Board of Health approved Makor HaTikvah late last fall. Yet, debate over the school’s status arose quickly. According to the school’s newsletter:
On March 5th, we were served with an Order to Close down our school by the State of Israel. This came as a result of our mistakenly not filing for a license renewal in the year of 2012 (something we just didn’t know we had to do). Additionally, our request for State recognition, already a 3-year process, was denied as a result of what we believe are unjustified reasons.
One of those reasons, according to the Messianic Times, was that the school discriminates “by only accepting believing children (state recognition and funding would force us to allow the enrollment of any child, but, of course, we know that non-believing Israeli families would not think of enrolling their children in a school which studies New Testament and prays to God in the name of Yeshua.”
CT previously has reported on Messianic Judaism, and noted a court ruling in 2008 that gave Messianic Jews the right to become Israeli citizens.
