The attorney general’s office issued a directive on Tuesday that daycare subsidies for families of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) military-age yeshiva students will continue until the end of November. The directive was a partial acceptance of a request by Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur (Shas), who requested that the subsidies continue until September 2025, or at least until February.
The issue first arose following the High Court of Justice’s ruling in June that the haredi exemption from IDF service was no longer legal. The High Court noted that it was now also illegal for the state to provide benefits of any kind to military-age men who continued to study in yeshivot and did not report for service unless they received a specifically approved exemption or delay of military service from the IDF.
One of these benefits is daycare subsidies for toddlers aged 0–3. The state issues such subsidies to families in which both parents work or study. Until now, study has included yeshiva study as well. However, according to the AG, the state can no longer continue to provide this benefit to yeshiva students while at the same time failing to adhere to the law saying that they must be drafted.
Deputy Attorney-General Gil Limon on Tuesday still decided to allow a three-month transition period, beginning with the new school year on September 1 and ending on November 30. The goal of this transition period was to enable “operational needs” for the labor ministry, such as amending the executive orders on the issue so that they reflect the new legal situation and updating related computer systems.
Ben-Tzur requested earlier this month that the transition period last a full year, since it could affect the welfare of the toddlers themselves, some of whom, for example, may be moved to a cheaper daycare center due to the cessation of subsidies. However, Limon rejected this argument, saying that these were not grounds to enable the government to violate the law. Limon also pointed out that a different government benefit, funds for yeshivot on behalf of military-age men who studied in them, had already ceased at the end of April, and that the months since then served as a de facto transition period.
Ben-Tzur's letter
Ben-Tzur in his letter accused the attorney general’s office of only permitting the three-month delay to evade criticism and accused that it was not giving enough attention to the families that will be affected by the decision. Ben-Tzur added that his ministry would not be able to make the necessary adaptations in three months and that the decision would therefore lead to chaos.
The AG’s decision came after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on August 18 that his policy was to continue the subsidy payments and that it was his prerogative to do so despite the attorney-general’s opinion that this was illegal. The opinion from Tuesday means that the potential crisis between Smotrich and the attorney general’s office has been delayed by three months.