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This is how Elchanan Felhimer is leading a right-wing takeover of the student institutions in Israel

Political persecution, takeover of local unions, [dubious] legal exercises, and money spent on expensive campaigns - what is happening in the National Union of Israeli Students?

By Maayan Galili, a student and a member of "Rosa Media" media organisation

Editor Yuval Unger 

Assisted in this investigation Stav Gerstel

Translation using Google Translate with minor edits by Lior Suchoy

Date of original publication: 16/7/2024

Original Hebrew text: https://www.rosamedia.org/episodes/articles/44

"If there was one thing that governments around the world were afraid of, it was student unity. Because students have education, knowledge, desire, and the ability to make change and revolutions. But this? This is all in the past. Today, the student union looks a little different." This is how the influencer Semion Grafman narrated a promotional video for the students’ union at the Ono Academic College (OAC) published in October 2018. The video opens with excerpts from various student protests around the world with Grafman's narration and continues to a montage of various activities organised by the OAC students’ union, with a special emphasis on pool parties and music concerts. The way in which the video ridicules the history of revolutionary student movements, in favour of "peak days" [full days dedicated to activities such as festivals -LS] and a superficial concern for the needs of the students, fits the relationship that the majority of the student body in Israel has with the organisations that represent them - the [local] student unions and the National Union of Israeli Students (NUIS). It is not clear if even the politically active students saw these organisations as having political significance - at least until the recent period when the political actions of the NUIS became an item on the public agenda. This is despite the fact that the NUIS and the local unions are very large and powerful bodies, representing hundreds of thousands and holding a budget of millions of shekels.

In the video [mentioned above – LS], Elchanan Felhimer, who was then the chairman of the OAC students’ union and today is the chairman of the NUIS, appears several times in the video. The characteristics of this video seem to summarise well the form and content of Felhimer's work in the union: an apparently apolitical representation of the students presented by the right-wing [comedian -LS] Grafman, alongside giving a central place to Felhimer himself and his persona. In addition, we found apparent irregular conduct regarding the relationship between Felhimer and Grafman, [a topic which we will expand on -LS] more below. Indeed, Felhimer makes sure to use apolitical rhetoric - he uses phrases like "it's not right or left" to explain his actions, even when they are offensively political and right-wing, and in interviews he has stated in the past that the association under his leadership "is not in the pocket of any party". But the alleged de-politicisation of the association is in fact a rather blatant right-wing politicisation, which Felhimer has been successfully imposing on the association since he was elected. Felhimer is a distinctly right-wing man, and even created, according to our investigation, close collaborations over the years with prominent right-wing politicians. These processes culminated in the bill for "dismissal of academic staff due to incitement or support of terrorism and budget reduction" which passed the Knesset in preliminary reading last week.

Despite Felhimer's statements, the student union is a political organisation for all intents and purposes - it represents hundreds of thousands of students and has an annual budget of millions and assets worth hundreds of millions of shekels. Therefore, it is natural and even positive that its representatives will strive to promote a worldview and that they will have their own political interests and ambitions. However, Felhimer carries out this politicisation in a manipulative manner, under the guise of a-politicalisation. As part of this [manipulation -LS], our investigation uncovered that the methods Felhimer employed are very controversial, from a point of view of democratic process and due process. This investigation traces the ways in which Felhimer established his power and the power of the right in the NUIS, and the actions of a right-wing political nature that he took with the power he gained.

The law to silence the academy

On Wednesday [July 10th, 2024 – LS], a draft law was passed in the Knesset for the "dismissal of academic staff due to incitement or support of terrorism and budget reduction", which the NUIS and Felhimer are promoting. The proposal was accompanied by a public campaign costing hundreds of thousands of shekels from the NUIS’s budget, in which billboards were hung with quotes of "supporting terrorism" from university lecturers. A variety of elements in the student body have already criticised the bill, including activists in [local] student unions and NUIS. [These criticisms – LS] were quoted extensively in an article by the media organisation "Shomrim" that was published in TheMarker about a week ago [on July 5th, 2024; see comment below – LS]. This proposed [law] main purpose is to silence lecturers and students who cross very fluid political lines – such as "denying the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state" – through the dismissal of lecturers and denial of graduation from students, as well as denial of funding from academic institutions that do not apply these measures. In fact, the bill will allow the government to weaken academic freedom and freedom of expression as it sees fit.

The proposal was accompanied by a letter of support from NUIS, which was signed by [representatives from -LS] almost all the academic institutions that form the NUIS – all except three who did not sign it. Later, signatures of additional local students’ unions were removed from the letter by their presidents, claiming that their signatures were added in advance [i.e. their support was assumed in advance - LS], with too short a notice to allow them to remove their signatures before publication. This investigation uncovers how the promotion of political silencing attempts by lecturers and students, as well as the use of dubious tactics of this type to ensure support for his actions, were observed many times in Felhimer's conduct.

A problematic history, political persecutions - and connections to right-wing politicians

Elchanan Felhimer is the son of former Petach Tikva municipality councillor, Yaakov Felhimer. He was engaged in political activity for years before he came to the NUIS - in 2017 he began to serve as the chairman of the OAC students’ union. During his term, Felhimer intervened in various political arenas, and a number of minor scandals were published regarding his activities. During Petah Tikva’s 2018 municipality elections, he ran a party of young people called "Tachle's" [תכל'ס – LS], which ultimately did not enter the municipality. The party declared its support for the mayor at the time, Itzik Braverman, who was also supported by Felhimer's father. As part of "Tachle's" campaign, plane tickets were raffled off to those who took pictures at the ballot box with the party's ballot, a problematic step whose legality has been questioned. Network stars Semion Grafman and Dennis Charkov also participated in a number of advertisement videos for the "Tachle's" campaign. The two were also hired by the OAC students’ union for a series of promotional videos - including the one that was mentioned at the beginning of this article. According to a source we spoke with in OAC, the two were hired at a particularly high salary for the union - more than 150,000 shekels. According to the source, they were hired at such a high rate to reward them for participating in the campaign for the municipality [elections campaign – LS], which took place shortly after. Legal documents we found mention that Felhimer was accused of this in internal correspondence of the OAC students’ union.

Ahead of the elections to the Knesset in March 2019, Felhimer led the youth headquarters of the "New Right" [HaYamin HaChadash הימין החדש – LS] party, the right-wing party led by Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked that did not pass the minimum threshold [to enter the Knesset – LS] in that election. Felhimer was even filmed for a video about his activities in the campaign published on Ynet. However, according to a source who has been involved in the OAC students’ union in recent years, when Felhimer began serving in his position in NUIS, he found other political partners and was mainly in close contact with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Later, his relationship with Smotrich went sour. According to the source, Smotrich disappointed Felhimer when he did not include funding for issues related to student support in the 2023 national budget, as Felhimer expected. Following this, Felhimer led an expensive national campaign called "Student = 0" protesting the national budget for containing "0" shekels for students. According to the same source, Felhimer is currently close to Likud MKs, especially to MK Ofir Katz, who submitted the bill to silence the academia, and to Education Minister Yoav Kish.

Shortly after Felhimer began his role in the NUIS, many employees of the NUIS were replaced, and in particular, a new legal counsel was hired. A number of lawyers from Tel-Zur & Co. law firm have led the legal consultation and representation of the NUIS since, including Yaniv Bar-Zik, Michal Geller and Tal Shapira. Tel-Zur & Co. is a large law firm, which represented, among others, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his legal matters as well as Brigadier General [Tat-Aluf תת-אלוף - LS] Gal Hirsch. Yuval Rivlin, who was the chairman of the Hebrew University’s student union until a few months ago, and was a member of the NUIS executive committee said that "there was a feeling among the Elchanan’s opposition, that you cannot trust the legal advice because it is always in his favour and provides him with escape routes [from legal difficulties - LS]."

Felhimer opposed free speech in academia throughout his tenure and made sure to condemn Palestinian national expressions on campuses in media interviews and on social media. In March 2022, the NUIS issued a statement on social media condemning the High Court of Justice's decision to force the state to award the Israel Prize [Pras Isra’el פרס ישראל - LS] to Oded Goldreich. Goldreich was selected for the Israel Prize by the prize committee, but the Minister of Education at the time, Yoav Galant, refused to award it due to Goldreich’s political views, and in particular because of his support for the boycott of Ariel University [a university in the settlement of Ariel in the west bank – LS]. The NUIS also cited the support for the boycott of Ariel University as a reason for its opposition to awarding the prize, and Felhimer was even interviewed on the subject by various media outlets. According to a source who was a member of the NUIS executive committee at that time, the NUIS social media post on that matter was published without discussion in the NUIS institutions, which drew resentment from various members of the executive committee - but the post was not deleted.

After the events of October 7th and the following war in Gaza, the NUIS led by Felhimer did its part in dealing with the difficult period, through a campaign against students who "support terrorism", and the establishment of a "hotline", where students could report cases of "supporting terrorism". Rivlin described this initiative as "a futile preoccupation with right-wing populism, which had nothing to do with the things that were really important in a situation of war”. The "hotline" established by the NUIS was part of a series of actions aimed at shaming Palestinian students and even initiating institutional proceedings by academic institutions against them, based on statements on social networks. Very few of these cases ultimately led to the suspension of any students on the basis of "supporting terrorism."

Democracy in student unions?

In order to increase his power in the institutions of the NUIS, Felheimer appears to build power in the local students’ unions of various academic institutions. Again, this is a legitimate ambition in itself, but the picture that emerges looks like a systematic takeover of local students’ unions across the country, in a way that makes it difficult for the opposition to Felhimer and his partners to compete democratically. Some sources familiar with the politics of the local students’ unions pointed to adv. Asaf Bitton was a key figure in building Felhimer's power in the local students’ unions. Bitton is a veteran lawyer in [representing] students’ unions, who served as the legal advisor of OAC students’ unions when Felhimer became chairman in 2017. According to an OAC source, Bitton and Felhimer formed a good personal relationship during this period. According to the information we found, Bitton appears to be helping Felhimer's political partners in the various local unions to maintain their power, partly through legal exercises that harm the democratic process.

According to the website "Guidestar", Bitton is currently giving legal advice to at least 11 local unions throughout the country. Bitton's role as a legal advisor in [a given] local union seems to be a strong indication of the partnership [of local representatives – LS] with Felhimer. For example, last November the NUIS presidency held a controversial series of votes regarding the transfer of approximately 10 million shekels for various purposes, ostensibly for the needs of the students due to the war. In these votes, almost all the unions in which Bitton consults voted in favour of Felhimer's proposal, and only one of these unions - Kibbutzim College (KC) [Seminar HaKibutzim סמינר הקיבוצים – LS] - opposed. The same voting patterns repeated in other controversial votes – such as for the appointment of Gali Kinstlich, the spouse of Rishon Lezion’s mayor [Raz Kinstlich -LS] and his campaign manager, to the board of directors of a new subsidiary that the NUIS established.

Towards the end of 2021, with Felhimer's becoming chairman of the NUIS, KC students’ union and The College of Law & Business (CLB) [HaMerkaz HaAkademi LeMishpat VeAsakimהמרכז האקדמי למשפט ולעסקים – LS] students’ union suffered from financial difficulties. The NUIS maintains an aid fund for unions in such circumstances, and therefore the NUIS led by Felhimer intervened in the affairs of both unions. In the months that followed, both unions began to employ Bitton as a legal advisor. Felhimer even mentioned in the discussion held in the NUIS executive committee that as part of the treatment of the difficult financial situation of the CLB he "assigned" a new legal counsel to the union. Member of the CAB students’ union at the time confirmed to us that Bitton was hired by the union as part of the support given to it but the NUIS.

The role of legal counsel in local unions is quite powerful - the legal counsel is usually part of the election committee and takes a central role in writing the election rules in the union's statutes. An example of the use Bitton made of the position is the case of the "elections" held in 2023 for the students’ union at Kaye College (KC) [Michlelet Ke’y מכללת קיי – LS], a college for education in Be'er Sheva. In 2022, the union’s Facebook page formally announced the change of the union’s name to the "[male] Students and [female] Students' Union" [see comment at the end – LS] of the college, along with the renewal of the statutes with the help of Bitton. The new union's regulations required candidates for the presidency to hold a position in the union for six months prior to the elections. Since admission to various positions in the union depends entirely on its current elected representatives, this section allows them to control the candidates list. Moreover, since the parties are registered to a leader, this method makes it possible to disqualify entire parties [by disqualifying the leader -LS]. Indeed, the party led by the incumbent representatives - whose leader usually votes with Felhimer [in the national forum] - was automatically selected.

According to an activist in the NUIS, a similar case also occurred in Beit Berl College (BB) [מכללת בית ברל – LS] students’ union’ elections last year [2023 – LS]. In Beit Berel, where Bitton is also the legal advisor, the election system was changed close to the date of the elections so that the opposing parties to the incumbent chairwoman Anat Gelfman had difficulty organising in time and registering for the elections, and she was elected automatically. Another case occurred in the 2023 elections for the Yezreel Valley College (YVC) [Mikhlelet Emek I’zra’el מכללת עמק יזרעאל – LS] students’ union, for which the union’s protocols describe Bitton as "union’s lawyer". At these elections, an opposition party - "Tachle's" led by Eyal Peretz [no relations to the party with the same name mentioned earlier in the text – LS], was disqualified from challenging the incumbent "Akhla" [אחלה – LS] party. The election committee claimed to have received an anonymous application from a candidate from "Tachle's" party, who claimed that his name was submitted as a candidate without his consent – alleging a forgery of his signature. This claim, which was never detailed, disqualified the entire party - which helped the incumbent party to be elected once more.

The case at KC, which involved a relatively blatant violation of democracy in the students’ union, reached the court, which decided not to intervene. Several of our interviewees said that the courts have a certain difficulty with students’ unions – institutions that are supposed to be representative and democratic, which are registered as associations [Amutot עמותות – LS] - and therefore the intervention of the courts in their affairs is not fully regulated. The actions of Felhimer's allies in other students’ unions reached the courts as well. In 2023, elections for the University of Haifa (UoH) students’ union were held without being published, except - according to the union - on one poster that was photographed hanging in a single place on campus. Since the incumbent party’s candidates and their allies were the only ones who knew about the elections, they were elected automatically. In this case, too, the courts chose not to intervene and were content with the single poster as evidence of compliance with the election publication rules specified in the union's statutes. The University of Haifa students’ union chairman at the time, Sivan Koren, was later elected to be Felhimer's deputy in the NUIS and is considered to be his political ally. We spoke with several sources who estimated that Felhimer agreed to support Koren for the position of vice-chairman, in exchange for her re-registering the University of Haifa students’ union with the NUIS, after leaving it a few years earlier.

Other cases involved the interference of Felhimer and his political allies in the elections of various associations through non-legal means. According to an activist in the national students’ politics with whom we spoke, in the elections for the chairman of the Hebrew University students’ union earlier this year, Felhimer spoke with right-wing council members in order to convince them to vote in a way that was in line with his interests. This move was seen as an unusual and blatant intervention on the part of the NUIS chairman in the local union’s affairs. In addition, several individuals involved in national students’ politics told us about notable events during the elections at the Western Galilee College (WGC) [Mikhlelet HaGalil HaMa’aravi מכללת הגליל המערבי – LS], which included the registration of a student from the University of Haifa, who does not study at the WGC, to the college, in order to run against the incumbent chairwoman. In addition, we received information according to which, in the run-up to the elections, the incumbent chairwoman was flooded with phone calls from marketing and other numbers - apparently, her number was distributed and registered in various services in order to harass and bully her. The sources we spoke with estimated that the intervention was made with the aim of electing a new chairperson, who would match the interests of Felhimer and Koren.

Where is the money?

One of the issues relating to Felhimer's actions in the NUIS that received the widest public resonance is the sale of ISSTA [איסתא; a popular tourism company which historically served the higher education and students market – LS] shares in June 2022. The NUIS held about 20% of ISSTA shares before the sale, most of which were sold in an expedited process led by Felhimer, which was presented as urgent due to a one-off temporary opportunity that emerged. After the sale, it was announced in the media that it was carried out at a price significantly lower than the market price. This is a loss of tens of millions of shekels for the student body, and the public outcry led to a report authored by the auditor of the NUIS regarding the conduct surrounding the sale. According to the report, and according to a person with whom we spoke on the subject who was present at some of the meetings, details regarding the sale were presented in a misleading manner to the members of the NUIS executive committee by the representatives of the underwriting company, Poalim IBI [פועלים אי.בי.אי – LS], which brokered the deal. For example, ISSTA ‘s shares were presented as non-tradable, while shortly after the sale, the price rose and ISSTA entered the Tel Aviv 90 index. In addition, Poalim IBI claimed to the executive committee that the sale was offered to several potential institutional buyers other than The Phoenix Fund [Keren HaFeniks קרן הפניקס – LS], which purchased the shares. On the other hand, the auditor's report found that this claim is inconsistent with the testimonies of some of the potential buyers to whom, according to Poalim IBI, the sale was offered.

Why did Felhimer initiate such a quick sale, in which the student body lost a lot of money? According to media publications from the time, Felhimer was interested in the sale of ISSTA from the moment he became chairman of the NUIS. A person who was a member of the NUIS presidency with whom we spoke estimated that one of the goals of this move was to provide Fleheimer with liquidity, which he could use for his purposes - for example, to promote expensive political campaigns. According to the same source, these resources were used when the NUIS launched the "Student=0" campaign. If so, the recent public campaign costing hundreds of thousands of shekels against "terror-supporting" academics is a continuation of this move - since the funding for this recent campaign should, at least according to [the NUIS -LS] statement, come from the remaining funds for the "Student=0" campaign that were not used. The full picture of how the funds from the sale of ISSTA were used is difficult to find - because the budget of the NUIS has not been made public since 2021 when Felhimer took office. This is despite the fact that in previous years, the NUIS’s budget was regularly published on the NUIS website.

Another case of the transfer of large funds in a seemingly improper manner relates to the transfer of ten million shekels for various needs stemming from the Iron Swords War [Israel war on Gaza following 7th October – LS]. In one vote, the members of the NUIS presidency voted on a series of controversial transfers of funds, alongside goals that are in consensus, such as the establishment of resilience centres for the needs of students during the war, and also funds intended for the use of local unions, which these unions had been expecting for a long time. Among other things, the NUIS transferred a lot of money to Chabad BaCampus [חב"ד בקמפוס; a branch of Chabad working in higher education institutions in Israel – LS], which was covered in detail in the "Shomrim" investigation [see comment below – LS]. While this group [Chabad BaCampus – LS] has had a presence on campuses for many years, according to several sources we spoke with from the NUIS, the cooperation with them has tightened since Felhimer took office. In addition, the way funds are allocated to the local unions [following the aforementioned vote – LS] had changed in a way that gives preference to the medium-sized students’ unions, which are Felhimer's political base, at the expense of the small and large unions. That vote also passed with a majority of 50%, instead of the two-thirds majority required by the NUIS regulations. Against this backdrop, some of the local students’ unions that opposed the move sued the NUIS in court.

This is how Elchanan Felhimer is leading a right-wing takeover of the student institutions in Israel

The picture that emerges from this investigation is disturbing. It seems that Felhimer succeeded in a relatively short time in increasing his power and the power of the right in the NUIS very effectively. Indeed, the aspiration to accumulate political power and promote ideological positions in the NUIS is legitimate. However, Felhimer does this with a false pretence of apoliticality, which makes it manipulative. The apolitical cover increases the need to use democratically questionable methods since Felhimer cannot simply declare his views and connections and promote them. The story of the National Union of Israeli Students shows once again that when an institution that is supposed to be one of the most powerful political bodies is emptied of its content over the years - a place is made for the most problematic political elements [to use it – LS]. All we can now hope and work for is a different kind of student politics, which truly cares for students and their interests, in a broad and long-term perspective.

Comments [see comment below]:

The National Union of Israeli Students responded: "The National Union of Israeli Students works vigorously to promote the interests of all students in Israel. We are proud of our extensive activity, which is designed to improve the study conditions and rights of the student body and to provide a response to the needs arising from the field.

As far as the conduct of the NUIS is concerned, the NUIS complies with all the provisions of the law and proper administration and operates in a democratic manner in accordance with the decisions that are made by a majority of votes in the general assembly, after in-depth discussions, consultations with professional bodies and with the approval of the authorised bodies.

The claims that you find in the article are deprived of any foundation and grip on reality and may even be found to be slanderous and libellous. The NUIS conducts internal and external audits frequently and as necessary, the claims will be examined through the NUIS’s internal and external audit bodies.

We thank all the students for the trust they place in us and we will continue to act with determination and transparency for their sake and for the advancement of the higher education system in Israel."

Pazit Cohen, chairman of The College of Law & Business students’ union since the end of 2022 stated: "Since my appointment as chairwoman of the union, the association paid all of its debts, for which it is recognised by an annual confirmation of proper management [אישור מנהל תקין – LS] annually.

I am not familiar with Elchanan's statements in the [NUIS – LS] executive committee since I am not a member of it.

Adv. Asaf Bitton served for many years as the [local] union legal advisor, even before I took office. He remained in this position during my time as chairwoman due to our satisfaction with his professionalism, experience and availability for us and for the students.

During my time as chairwoman, I did not receive any financial assistance from the NUIS for the salary of Adv. Asaf Bitton."

Semion Grafman stated: "The claims are ridiculous. The pay I received at Ono Academic College was relatively low compared to the pay I usually receive, and I even have receipts to prove it."

Adv. Asaf Bitton stated: "Advocate Asaf Bitton is a lawyer with about 20 years of experience. He represents dozens of associations [Amutot עמותות – LS], including student unions. Adv. Bitton served as the legal advisor for multiple student unions, such as those mentioned in your investigation, for many years before Mr. Felhimer served as the chairman of the Ono Academic College students’ union and long before he began to serve as chairman of the National Union of Israeli Students. Your absurd investigation that tries to link between him [adv. Bitton – LS] and Mr. Felhimer and/or between the many and varied local unions that Adv. Bitton represents professionally and their [the unions – LS] votes in the presidency of the NUIS are not only untrue and out of touch with reality but are tantamount to defamation and damage to the reputation of Adv. Asaf Bitton which he laboured devoutly to preserve and culture over the years"

Nathanael Meshash, chairman of the Yezreel Valley College students’ union, said: "According to my understanding, there was a [regular – LS] election process as is every year, the elections are managed by the election committee which is approved by the legal advisor, as far as I understand the committee decided to disqualify Eyal Peretz's party after it was discovered a party’s member’s signature was forged.

It saddens me to know that [someone – LS] tried to falsify the elections and harm democracy and the purity of the elections."

No response was given from the students’ unions at Kaye College, Beit Barel College, and the University of Haifa.

Translation notes: