JERUSALEM - Student groups at colleges and universities across Israel were set to strike this week to fight increases in the cost of higher education.

With the Israeli government making significant cuts to the national higher education budget and contemplating a rise in tuition, Haaretz said 250,000 students plan a nationwide strike beginning Tuesday.

The planned demonstrations are said to have already gotten the support of Israel's lecturer associations and the faculties at numerous schools.

The students' strike would come less than two months after the nation's student unions made concessions on the budget.

On Sunday, Tel Aviv University Students Union Chairman Boaz Toporovsky told the newspaper the strike would represent a last-ditch effort by higher education students.

"As soldiers of education, we will stand guard and continue to fight until tuition fees are lowered and the budget cuts returned," he said.

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