The Knesset Finance Committee convened on Tuesday forward of a vote to approve the switch of NIS 98 million to haredi (ultra-Orthodox) academic establishments, after the funds had been halted by the Excessive Courtroom for being transferred unlawfully with out prior committee approval.
The Excessive Courtroom final month ordered the Finance Committee to reconvene and maintain a contemporary deliberation on the matter earlier than voting to approve the switch of the funds. By press time on Tuesday, the debates continued within the committee with no choice reached.
The NIS 98m. to be authorised is the quantity that was frozen by the Excessive Courtroom within the case, after roughly NIS 800m. was already transferred and stays on the middle of the petitions that have been despatched to the Excessive Courtroom.
The case facilities on a funds switch authorised by the Finance Committee on December 25, 2025, which shifted funds from varied authorities ministries for training functions, together with to haredi academic establishments.
The petitions to the Excessive Courtroom towards the switch have been filed by Yesh Atid lawmakers and the Hiddush NGO, along with The Democrats MK Naama Lazimi, and have been later heard collectively.
On the January 8 listening to, it emerged that a lot of the cash had already been distributed earlier than the committee vote, prompting sharp criticism from the bench and an interim order freezing additional transfers.
In March, the Knesset Authorized Division, submitting on behalf of the Finance Committee itself, mentioned the Finance Ministry acted unlawfully by advancing a lot of the cash earlier than acquiring the committee’s approval.
The Excessive Courtroom ruling said that the NIS 98 million could possibly be transferred solely after Finance Committee members had acquired all the fabric they deemed crucial.
Yesh Atid slams choice to host dialogue on Holocaust Remembrance Day
Forward of the committee debate on Tuesday, Yesh Atid sharply criticized the dialogue for happening on Holocaust Remembrance Day, which was not the initially scheduled date.
“Whereas within the earlier funds, NIS 3.3 million was minimize from help funds for Holocaust survivors, at present the
Finance Committee is discussing the switch of about NIS 100 million to ultra-Orthodox academic establishments,” Yesh Atid said.
“These are the priorities of draft evaders and the corrupt,” it added.
Forward of the controversy, opposition chief Yair Lapid mentioned that lawmakers from his Yesh Atid social gathering would attend the committee assembly to oppose the switch of the funds.
“We is not going to surrender. Ever! We’ll cease this cash, return to energy, set up a superb authorities, and repair the nationwide order of priorities,” Lapid claimed.
Lazimi and Yesh Atid MKs Noar Shiri, Vladimir Beliak, Moshe Tur-Paz, and Meirav Cohen joined the dialogue. They requested representatives from each the Finance and Training ministries for particulars relating to the allocation of the funds.
Their questions targeted particularly on the difficulty of haredi colleges not complying with core curriculum necessities to show topics comparable to Math and English.
MK Moshe Gafni from the haredi United Torah Judaism social gathering claimed that he had been “warning for years that transfers have to be introduced in on time and never authorised retroactively.”
He criticized the choice to reapprove the funds to the haredi establishments on the opening of the controversy, stating that “the absurd actuality is that we are actually required to revisit just one switch – to ultra-Orthodox training.”
Lazami responded, “There aren’t any phrases left” after Gafni’s assertion.
She additionally mentioned that 22 ultra-Orthodox colleges can be faraway from the Shas and United Torah Judaism training networks resulting from failure to satisfy core curriculum necessities. Nonetheless, this could solely happen on the finish of the 2025-2026 faculty 12 months, and till then, they might proceed to obtain full state funding, Lazami mentioned.
Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.
