Rehovot's Weizmann Institute President Zajfman Drops Support for Court Order Against Striking Profs

The President of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Prof. Daniel Zajfman, Thursday removed his signature from the university presidents' request for a court injunction against the striking senior lecturers.

Zajfman was the second university head to do so, following Tel Aviv University President Prof. Zvi Galil.

But while Galil said he was rescinding his support for the request submitted to the National Labor Court because it was unfair, Zajfman cited technical reasons.

According to the Weizmann Institute spokesman, Zajfman was party to the first part of the request, asking the court to force the faculty and the Finance Ministry into talks under the aegis of the court, but because Weizmann does not require its faculty members to teach, it has no reason to join the request for injunctions to force the strikers to return to the classrooms.

The court will deliberate on the injunction request Sunday, the deadline announced by the university presidents for salvaging the fall semester. The chairman of the Council of University Heads, Prof. Moshe Kaveh, has asked for the immediate intervention of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in order to solve the crisis.

Source: Tamara Traubmann, Haaretz Correspondent. Weizmann head drops support for court order against striking profs. Haaretz.com (11 January 2008) [FullText]