Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur (Shas) accused Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara in a letter on Wednesday of “undermining the democratic foundations of the Israeli government” by ordering the Labor Ministry’s legal adviser to not sign off on a government decision aimed at preventing economic measures against military-age haredi yeshiva students, who act against the law by not reporting for IDF service.
The government made a last-minute decision on Sunday to publish the criteria for citizens to receive daycare subsidies for toddlers aged 0-3, which would only be in effect until the end of November.
The criteria, which are usually published prior to the beginning of the school year, include families where one parent works and the other studies. Previously, this included yeshiva studies.
The A-G’s office wrote last month that following the expiration of the haredi exemption from IDF service, military-aged haredi men who are now legally required to enlist could no longer be eligible for the daycare subsidies. However, the A-G still consented to a three-month “transition period” in which they could still receive the subsidies.
'Not viable'
The government’s Sunday decision was to make all criteria applicable for only three months. This would force the Labor Ministry to rewrite the criteria again ahead of December, with the hope that the ministry could find a legal loophole before then to enable the subsidies for military-age haredi yeshiva students to continue for the rest of the school year.
Baharav-Miara wrote on Sunday that the government’s decision was “not legally viable” since it disproportionately harmed all parents who are eligible for the subsidies for reasons other than yeshiva study.
According to the A-G, no legal reason was given regarding why the subsidies for all other groups, such as single parents and new immigrants, should apply for just three months and not for the entire school year. The government went ahead with the vote regardless.
Baharav-Miara wrote in a letter to Ben-Tzur on Tuesday that she had instructed the legal advisers in the Labor Ministry to refrain from signing off on the criteria since they were not legally viable.
She added that Ben-Tzur’s refusal to sign off on criteria that would apply for the entire school year and not just until the end of November was harming eligible parents, and she encouraged the labor minister to publish them immediately in order to enable the subsidies to be transferred.
All bound
Ben-Tzur responded in the aforementioned letter on Wednesday that he was bound by the government’s decision and that the attorney-general was as well.
According to Ben-Tzur, the A-G, therefore, did not have the authority to direct the legal advisers in the Labor Ministry not to sign off on the criteria according to the government decision. Ben-Tzur asked the A-G to change her directive so that he could publish the criteria “immediately.”
The exchange of letters was the newest development in an ongoing conflict between the labor minister and the attorney-general’s office over haredi eligibility for subsidies.
Ben-Tzur is a member of the haredi Shas party and has attempted to find a loophole in order to enable haredi yeshiva students of military age to continue receiving the subsidies, even though this would serve as an incentive for them to continue acting against the law by avoiding IDF service.