The Cabinet approved changing the status of the Ariel University Center into a university.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "It is important that there be an additional university in Israel; it is important that there be a university in Ariel. I love to break monopolies and cartels in every field, and this one of them. I do not think that it is sufficient that the State of Israel has seven universities; another university has not been added in 40 years. Ariel is an inseparable part of the State of Israel and it will remain an inseparable part of the State of Israel in any future agreement just like the other settlement blocs. Approving the university in Ariel is one of a series of actions that we are taking in order to strengthen higher education in the State of Israel and this decision expresses our confidence in the academic level in Ariel."