Ariel University

Ariel University
אוניברסיטת אריאל בשומרון‎
TypePublic
Established1982
PresidentYehuda Shoenfeld
RectorAlbert Pinhasov[1]
Studentsapproximately 13,500 (as of August 2020)
Location
Ariel
,
Judea and Samaria Area[2]

32°06′17″N 35°12′34″E / 32.10472°N 35.20944°E / 32.10472; 35.20944
Building details
Map
Campusurban
ColorsTeal, navy and white
AffiliationsIAU
WebsiteEnglish
Hebrew

Ariel University (Hebrew: אוניברסיטת אריאל), previously a public college known as the Ariel University Center of Samaria, is an Israeli university located in the urban illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank.[3][4]

The college preceding the establishment of Ariel University was founded in 1982 as a regional branch of Bar-Ilan University. Originally located in the settlement of Kedumim,[5] it moved to Ariel where it built a larger campus and went on to become the largest Israeli public college. In the 2004–05 academic year, the affiliation with Bar Ilan ended and it became an independent college.

On 17 July 2012, the Council for Higher Education in Judea and Samaria voted to grant the institution full university status.[6] This move was praised by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Education Gideon Saar, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and some Knesset members[7] as well as Nobel Prize in Economics winning mathematician Robert Aumann.[8] The Council of presidents of Israeli Universities condemned the move.[8] A survey in 2013 found that 65% of the public in Israel supported the recognition of Ariel University as Israel's eighth university.[9]

Ariel University has 26 departments for B.A., BSc and BArch studies, in three faculties and three schools. In addition, Ariel University offers a master's degree programs for M.A., M.B.A. and MSc in 2014, Ariel University initiated a PhD programs for Doctorate studies also. In 2011, it had a student population of 14,000, with a branch in Tel Aviv. All degrees are recognized by the Council for Higher Education in Israel.

The university and its staff have been the target of boycotts, both in Israel and overseas, for its location in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

  1. ^ "Prof. Albert Pinhasov". www.ariel.ac.il. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  2. ^ Peter Stalker: A Guide to Countries of the World,
    • p. 152: "In the longer term it seems likely that the West Bank and Gaza will constitute an independent Palestine"
    • page 245,
    Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199580729
  3. ^ Fleishman, Itamar (25 December 2012). "It's official: Ariel University recognized". ynet. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Ariel University Center of Samaria". Ariel.ac.il. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  5. ^ Templer, B (2007) Educational Geopolitics and the 'Settler University' in Ariel Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, Volume 5, Number 2
  6. ^ "Ariel gets university status, despite opposition". The Jerusalem Post. 25 March 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  7. ^ Nationalists Welcome Decision on Ariel University, 18 July 2012 Arutz Sheva, 18 July 2012
  8. ^ a b "Israel's first settlement university stirs controversy". BBC. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  9. ^ "65% of Israelis support the upgrade of Ariel University, survey shows". Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2015.