The Court issued an interim injunction on Wednesday halting the transfer of more than one billion shekels to ultra-Orthodox educational institutions. The move follows a petition filed by the Yesh Atid party; a hearing is scheduled to take place no later than January 8. Party leader Yair Lapid described the funds as having been allocated illegally and spoke of political bribery at the expense of the working and serving public.

Yeshiva students from the ultra-Orthodox Haredi community regularly protest their recruitment. Image: JNS

This was preceded by protests, some of them violent, against the recruitment of the Haredi community, which has enjoyed exemption from military service for years but has been called upon to fight since the war against the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

Yesh Atid argues that the money was transferred to Haredi institutions without sufficient legal basis or oversight. Lapid welcomed the court’s decision and announced that the legal battle would continue. Haredi sources, however, said that funds already transferred were intended to cover unpaid teachers’ salaries, calling the intervention detached from reality and harmful.

Ultra-Orthodox parties reacted sharply. United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf accused Lapid of hatred toward the Haredim and stated that the funds had passed all required legal reviews and were meant to correct historical discrimination. Party colleagues such as Meir Porush, Moshe Gafni, and others spoke of a “war” by the judiciary against religious education and questioned the court’s democratic legitimacy.

The Shas party also strongly condemned the decision, accusing the court of deliberately harming the Haredi public. Party leader Aryeh Deri urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to coordinate countermeasures immediately upon his return from the United States; Netanyahu expressed his support.

Regardless of the court ruling, the Knesset Finance Committee approved additional funding of more than one billion shekels on Thursday for Haredi education networks, including hundreds of millions for the networks of United Torah Judaism and Shas, as well as further allocations for recognized but non-state institutions, exempt institutions, and religious services. (ynet)

By Okay Altinisik | 1-1-2026, 4:06:21