Ultra-Orthodox Pray at the Kotel
Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara ordered an immediate end to government subsidies for daycare provided to the children of ultra-orthodox (Haredim) Israelis who do not serve in the military. The decision came months after Israel’s Supreme Court not only ordered an end to the “custom” of providing people who study in Yeshivas (Tora academies) a deferment from military service but also an end to all government social welfare payments to people who refuse to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Baharav Miara sent a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu on the matter. Citing the Supre Court’s ruling she wrote “In the absence of a legal basis for postponing the service, the legal basis for encouraging and supporting the state in the activities of those who avoid conscription is dropped.”
“The inevitable conclusion is that there is no longer any authority to encourage,” she added, “ the studies of those who are designated for security service, but did not show up and be recruited for the [military] service.”
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“The conclusion is that there is no longer any justification for funding the daycare as an incentive for Torah studies for those who are designated for military service but have not shown up to be drafted,” declared the Attorney General.
The Ultra-Orthodox politicians in Israel condemned the decision saying, among other things, it will prevent women in their communities from working.
The Sephardic Shas Party issued a statement calling this a “disgraceful mark on the forehead of a legal system, which is supposed to be the protector and remedy of women who have decided to enter the workforce and contribute to the Israeli economy. The purpose of the subsidy is to encourage women’s employment. The ultra-orthodox women have the highest female employment rate in the OECD. This unfortunate decision will set them back.”
MK Israel Eichler from the Ashkenazic Ultra-Orthodox United Tora Judaism Party called this a “violation of the rights of working mothers by denying the right to a discount at the daycare center.”
The Ultra-Orthodox have enjoyed Yeshiva deferments since the establishment of the State of Israel. However, what was intended to be a temporary measure to allow for the rebuilding of this community after the Holocaust became permanent. Also, the students take the deferments for years, until they are older and have families so that they become de facto exemptions from military service.
While under draft deferment the Haredim may not work full-time or study in a university/college to learn a profession. This has led to poverty and social stagnation in their communities.
The Supreme Court, in its ruling, said the deferments were invalid because they were a government policy that was not enshrined in law and as such should not have become permanent. The Court made it clear that the Knesset is free to enshrine such a policy in law should it choose to do so. However, in the more than two decades since the Supreme Court first issued such a ruling no government has been able to successfully pass such a law.
The current government led by Benjamin Netanyahu promised to do so in its coalition agreement with the ultra-orthodox parties. But the October 7 Hamas massacre and the ensuing war against Hamas in Gaza has made it politically untenable for Netanyahu to push through such a law any time soon.
