Coalition, opposition spar as preliminary vote on haredi daycare bill nears

By ELIAV BREUER

Published: NOVEMBER 4, 2024 19:50

HAREDI JEWS walk in the streets of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim, in Jerusalem, earlier this month. (photo credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90) — HAREDI JEWS walk in the streets of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim, in Jerusalem, earlier this month.

(photo credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

United Torah Judaism threatens to oppose other coalition bills if daycare bill falls

The coalition's controversial haredi daycare subsidies bill is expected to reach the Knesset plenum for a preliminary vote on Wednesday, and tensions rose on Monday as the coalition attempted to shore up the necessary votes.

The bill in question removes a significant financial sanction against haredi yeshiva students who have not enlisted for IDF service despite the legal requirement. The sanction is the removal of a subsidy of daycare centers for children in which the mother works, and the father is a yeshiva student.

The bill's supporters, led by its main author, United Torah Judaism MK Yisrael Eichler, have argued that rather than pushing yeshiva students into the army, the sanction will force working haredi mothers to leave their jobs to care for children they can no longer afford to send to daycare. However, the attorney general's office deemed the bill proposal unconstitutional on Sunday due to its de-facto incentivizing draft evasion.

Opposing the bill?

Five members of the 68-member coalition – Minister-without-portfolio MK Gideon Sa'ar's four United Right party members and Likud MK Dan Illouz – have announced that they will oppose the bill.

However, a "Likud official," presumably coalition whip MK Ofir Katz, threatened on Monday that the Likud's members must adhere to "coalition discipline" and vote in favor of the bill. Those who do not will face sanctions. Katz, who also chairs the Knesset Home Committee, can, for example, attempt to remove party renegades from the Knesset committees to which they belong.

UTJ MK Yisrael Eichler points at a fellow lawmaker in the Knesset plenum. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

On Monday, members of the haredi United Torah Judaism party reportedly threatened to oppose other coalition bills if the daycare bill did not pass or was not brought for a vote on Wednesday. On the other hand, members of the opposition, led by MK Yair Lapid, severely criticized the coalition's intention to advance the bill. Lapid said in a speech in the Knesset plenum on Monday that supporting the bill amounted to a "vote against IDF soldiers during war" and that MKs who voted in favor would be "ashamed" and would "not be able to live with themselves."