Israel to stop subsidizing haredi children's daycare amid IDF draft efforts

The state may no longer subsidize daycare for children of full-time yeshiva students whose exemption from IDF service has expired, Deputy Attorney-General Gil Limon ruled on Sunday morning.

The ruling will likely lead to a financial blow to thousands of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) families just weeks before a new school year is set to begin, and Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur (Shas) announced soon afterward that his ministry was holding a series of emergency discussions to examine the issue, which he said would cause “severe harm to families’ financials since thousands of mothers will leave the workforce.”

Limon’s ruling came after a series of legal issues arose following the High Court of Justice’s ruling in June that haredi men were no longer exempt from IDF service, and that yeshivot were no longer eligible to receive state support for men of military age who did not report for IDF service.

What about the haredi community's other benefits?

The court’s ruling did not directly address other financial benefits mainly enjoyed by haredim, subsidized daycare being chiefly among them. However, Limon explained in his letter on Sunday that the ruling pointed out the direct link between the state’s support for yeshiva students and the legality of their exemption from IDF service. Since the exemption no longer applied, the state could therefore no longer provide any benefits to haredim who continued evading the draft, Limon wrote.

Israeli public education is free from age three through high school. State support for daycare for toddlers aged 0-3 depends on whether or not their parents are available to care for them. Until Sunday, Israeli executive orders laid out by the Labor Ministry dictated that the state subsidize daycare only for families in which both parents either worked or studied. The latter included studies in yeshivot. However, Limon’s ruling means that from now on, haredi men of military age may no longer be counted as students, unless they join the IDF.

As opposed to funding for yeshivot, which does not affect families directly, this order could have dramatic effects on haredi families’ income. Limon recognized in his letter that this could affect changes in haredi families’ preparation for the coming school year, and therefore left open the option of enabling a short “preparation period” before his ruling comes into effect.

Haredi politicians severely criticized the decision, arguing that it was unnecessarily harsh.Ben-Tzur issued a statement saying that legal arguments he made in a meeting with the attorney general’s office “did not receive a professional response.” Ben-Tzur pledged to continue the “just and moral struggle for those toddlers with all legal tools.”

The Shas party said in a statement that the ruling was “cruel legal bullying” and “harassment of helpless children,” adding that it was a “shameful mark of Cain on a judicial system that is supposed to be the defender and supporter of women who decided to enter the workforce and contribute to the Israeli economy.”

United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yizhak Goldknopf called the ruling “scandalous and discriminatory.”

“It goes without saying that the attorney general would not have published an identical decision against the Arab public that does not serve, or the children of foreign workers or illegal migrants, who enjoy services and stipends as if they served in the IDF,” Goldknopf added.

National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz backed the A-G’s ruling.

“A government that cared for Israel’s security and for haredi children, would have formulated long ago a plan for broad and fair service, and thus would have assisted the IDF and the enormous burden on the mandatory and reserve soldiers during wartime, strengthened Israeli resilience, and strengthened the economy in a way that would enable daycare subsidies for all families who cannot afford it – secular, religious, haredi, and Arab,” Gantz said in a video statement.

“This government, which wants to survive politically, attacks the attorney general and the court for its own failures,” Gantz added.