Pupil beats teacher for minutes at Golan school; classes delayed

A pupil at an elementary school in the Golan beat and kicked a teacher, then held her hair and pushed her head to the floor for several minutes, according to the Teachers' Union. A second staff member was hurt trying to pull him off.

In response, the union said classes at the Metzpe Golan elementary school in Bnei Yehuda, in the Golan Regional Council, will open at 9:00 on Tuesday morning, an hour late. Srugim described the delay as a warning protest.

How it unfolded

The incident began in the middle of a lesson, the union said. The boy repeatedly disrupted the class and was told to leave the room and calm down in an adjoining area, under the teacher's supervision.

He left briefly, then came back to the classroom doorway. When the teacher stepped out to him, he attacked her. According to the union, he punched and kicked her, grabbed her hair tightly and pulled her head down to the floor.

The teacher and other female staff tried for several minutes to loosen his grip and stop the assault. Israel Hayom reported that it happened in view of other pupils. During the attempts to separate them, another member of the teaching staff was injured.

The union said the incident left the school's staff badly shaken.

Union response

The union called the situation grave. In a statement quoted by Israel Hayom, in Hebrew, it said this is "a serious situation we will not accept." It said the late opening is a way of standing with the teaching staff and protesting violence against education workers. Maariv reported that staff will also hold a discussion session on Tuesday.

The teacher and the second staff member have not been named, and the extent of their injuries has not been reported. The boy's age has not been given beyond his being an elementary-school pupil. It is not clear whether police or the local authority have opened any proceedings, or what steps the school has taken regarding the pupil.

The Teachers' Union is the main union representing teachers in Israel's state schools. Its use of a short delayed opening as a protest step is a limited sanction. It disrupts parents' mornings, but it signals the union's view that a school's staff should not be left to deal alone with severe violence.

The school has not publicly commented, according to the reports.