Education in Israel has been characterized historically by the same social and cultural cleavages separating the Orthodox from the secular and Arabs from Jews. In addition, because of residential patterns and concentrations--of Orientals in development towns, for example--or because of "tracking" of one sort or another, critics have charged that education has been functionally separated by an Ashkenazi-Oriental distinction, as well.

Israel’s education system and the high literacy rate of its people reflect the importance of education in the Jewish tradition. Absorption and integration of immigrant Jewish children from many countries and cultures continue as the central challenges. The Compulsory Education Law of 1949 and consequent amendments offer for free and compulsory schooling for children aged 5 to 16 and additional free but not compulsory education to age 18. In practice about 90 % of school-age children complete compulsory education. Jewish children attend either state secular or religious schools.