Fear of the expected move of the Ministry of Science to the Ministry of Science
By: John Ben Zaken, Information Week Israel
Following the reorganization planned in the government ministries, the Ministry of Science is expected to be closed and transferred to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The change arouses fear in the science community, that the government budgets dedicated today to basic research in universities - which are few anyway - will be transferred to the benefit of industry. In addition, according to them, there is a great deal of uncertainty regarding the fate of other essential functions that the ministry manages today, such as external scientific relations and investment in science in the periphery and in the community.
MK Anat Maor (MRC), chairman of the Knesset's Science Committee, yesterday sent an urgent letter to the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, in which she warns against harming "the many and important functions performed by the Ministry of Science" and asks to "guarantee that within the framework of the organization renewed in the government offices, science will not be harmed and will not be pushed to the margins". According to her, in the renewed preparation, a response must be given to the "weak points that were discovered at the level of national projects such as the one that should provide a response to the water crisis, the level of preparedness for the situation of earthquakes, and saving the sinking Dead Sea."
The Ministry of Science, Culture and Sports decided to freeze all new projects and investments in the field of science planned for 2004-2003, and to preserve only the existing activities; This follows a decision by the former Minister of Science, Culture and Sports, Matan Vilnai, to transfer budgets from activities in the field of science to activities in the field of culture. The meaning of the decision is the freezing of new studies in the various fields of science, which will harm the new studies planned by the Science Administration in the fields of nanotechnology, electro-optics, biotechnology and space, as well as the provision of post-doctoral scholarships and other dedicated studies.
Also, a serious decision was made not to support anything related to scientific literacy and the promotion of science. At the same time, we did not hear about cuts in the promotion of anti-scientific education in Israel.
The cash budget for the ministry's scientific activities in 2003 decreased by 47% - from NIS 102 million in 2002 to NIS 54 million. A perusal of the budget book for 2003 shows that the relative share of the Culture Administration from the ministry's cash budget is about 60%, while the budget of the Science Administration decreased in 2003 from 13.3% to 8.4%.
According to sources in the Ministry of Finance and Science, the source of the problem lies in the preference of Vilnai, and the CEO of his office, David Lefler, for the Administration of Culture over the Administration of Science. For example, in June 2002, Vilnai decided to transfer a standing loan of NIS 16 million to the Culture Administration, at the expense of the Science Administration.
