28th October 2025
INTO Condemns NI Minister of Education’s Visit to Israel
The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) condemn the actions of the Department of Education (NI) and Education Minister Paul Givan in taking part in and promoting a tour hosted by Israeli officials.
The fact that the Education Minister has undertaken this tour in the context of what has been recognised by the UN as a genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza, as well as Israel’s consistent disregard and abuse of international laws in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, is deeply troubling.
It is also a cause for serious concern that Minister Givan and the Department have posted a number of inappropriate social media posts and online news items on the Department’s official website in what he has claimed is a “fact-finding” mission at the invitation of the Israeli Embassy in London. Official governmental online platforms should be politically neutral. The Minister’s actions in promoting this visit on these platforms is an overtly political and divisive act that serves to diminish confidence in his judgement and respect for the views of the wider education workforce and community.
The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) has demanded that the Department take immediate action in removing these posts and news stories from their online platforms. The Minister should also be asked to explain his actions in accepting the invitation of the Israeli Embassy at a time when senior officials of that state stand accused of war crimes. The INTO supports this demand.
INTO Northern Secretary, Mark McTaggart, said:
The Minister’s visit takes place in the context of the killing, by the Israeli Military, of tens of thousands of children and the destruction of almost 90% of schools in Gaza, the closure of six schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Israeli occupied East Jerusalem, as well as constant attacks on Palestinian schools across the West Bank as observed in a recent United Nations OHCR report: Education-Related Incidents in West Bank 3rd Quarter 2025 (July – September 2025) – occupied Palestinian territory | ReliefWeb In Gaza, 625,000 Children have had no formal schooling for two years.
Against this backdrop, it is hard to comprehend, let alone justify, a Minister for Education accepting this invitation.
Teaching Unions Condemn NI Minister of Education’s Visit to Israel
The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) condemn the actions of the Department of Education (NI) and Education Minister Paul Givan in taking part in and promoting a tour hosted by Israeli officials.
An NITC spokesperson said:
The fact that the Education Minister has undertaken this tour in the context of what has been recognised by the UN as a genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza, as well as Israel’s consistent disregard and abuse of international laws in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, is deeply troubling.
It is also a cause for serious concern that Minister Givan and the Department have posted a number of inappropriate social media posts and online news items on the Department’s official website in what he has claimed is a “fact-finding” mission at the invitation of the Israeli Embassy in London. Official governmental online platforms should be politically neutral. The Minister’s actions in promoting this visit on these platforms is an overtly political and divisive act that serves to diminish confidence in his judgement and respect for the views of the wider education workforce and community.
The NITC demands that the Department take immediate action in removing these posts and news stories from their online platforms. The Minister should also be asked to explain his actions in accepting the invitation of the Israeli Embassy at a time when senior officials of that state stand accused of war crimes.