Itongadol.- The Knesset may be on summer break for another seven weeks, but politicians went back to school Tuesday, accompanying children on their first day.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited Gan Avivit, a preschool in Netanya, and recounted his time playing in the sandbox in Gan Marian in Jerusalem, quipping that he learned how to "think outside the box."
"I want to praise the 290,000 children who enjoy free education from age three, because of our government decision, and study in new, beautiful preschools like this one, and the parents who save at least NIS 8,000 per year and sometimes as much as NIS 20,000," Netanyahu said.
At the Yoni Netanyahu Elementary School, also in Netanya, the prime minister, accompanied by Education Minister Shai Piron and Netanya Mayor Miriam Feierberg, said he thinks his brother, after whom the school is named, would have been excited to see students learning about the Land of Israel and Zionism.
"Every one of you can excel in his or her way. You should always wave the flag of excellence high," Netanyahu told students.
Later, he taught first graders how to write Herzl\’s famous quote "If you will it, it is no dream."
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein gave 11th and 12th graders in Abu Gosh a civics lesson on their first day of school.
Edelstein said he chose Abu Gosh out of identification with its residents, and condemned "Price Tag" vandalism there and in Jerusalem.
Some ministers chose to wax nostalgic on Facebook, posting pictures of themselves in first grade.