Education Ministry shuts 80 ultra-Orthodox schools flouting closure orders, backtracks
Schools stayed open despite IDF Home Front Command shuttering all education facilities amid missile danger from Iran; ministry orders them closed, halts their funding, then reverses move
The Education Ministry ordered the closure of 80 ultra-Orthodox schools that had remained open despite IDF Home Front Command instructions to shutter the education system during the war with Iran, the ministry said Monday. Later Monday, however, the ministry reversed the move.
Action was taken against schools in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Tiberias, Rehovot, Modiin Ilit, and Beitar Illit for “endangering lives,” the ministry said in an initial statement. The schools were issued closure orders, and the ministry halted their state funding, it said.
Though the statement did not specify which schools were caught or the exact number, a ministry source told the Times of Israel that 80 schools were found flouting rules in the ultra-Orthodox, also known as Haredi, community. The schools were Talmud Torahs and yeshivot ketanot, which in the ultra-Orthodox education system cover boys aged 6-14 and 14-17, respectively.
The source noted that while ministry budgeting varies according to the institution, all of them receive a substantial part of their funding from the state.
“The lives of our children take precedence over everything,” Education Minister Yoav Kisch said in the statement. “There is no compromise when talking about the security of students. It is a national responsibility, and we are acting with all the tools at our disposal.”
Kisch said on Monday afternoon that he had halted the school closures, having been assured that they would henceforth heed Home Front Command instructions. They would not be given a second chance, he added.
Schools were closed after June 13 when Israel began its military campaign against Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile sites. Iran has responded by firing hundreds of rockets at Israeli cities, killing 24 people and injuring thousands. Missiles have fallen in Rehovot and in Bnei Brak, where an empty school was hit.
Inspectors were sent out after the ministry received reports that some locations were still operating, according to Hebrew media reports.
Senior sources in the Education Ministry told the Kikar Hashabbat outlet, which caters to the Haredi community, that last week they received reports that about 10 institutes had embraced a ruling by the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community leader Dov Landau that said education sites can remain open if they have a shelter.
A Haredi political source told Kikar Hashabbat that efforts were already being made to ensure that funding for the schools is restored.
In a missive last week, Landau ruled that while kindergartens should remain closed, education sites that study the Talmud, including yeshivas, can remain open if they have a suitable shelter. Landau also urged students that, during an attack, they should study even harder as Torah study offers “protection and salvation,” but forbid students from going outside to watch “curious sights” as that is life-threatening — an apparent reference to those who watch interceptors and missiles streaking across the sky rather than seek shelter.
The Education Ministry said it will continue to take “determined” action against all violations of mandatory guidelines.
On Sunday, after the US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, the IDF Home Front issued stricter civilian regulations banning all public gatherings, ordering schools to remain closed, and permitting only essential businesses to operate following the US strike on Iran.
The new restrictive guidelines will be in place until Monday, when a fresh assessment will be conducted.
The US conducted strikes on Iran’s Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites, President Donald Trump announced early Sunday, after more than a week of strikes by Israel that damaged Iran’s nuclear facilities, eradicated the country’s air defenses, and took out many of its military brass and top nuclear scientists.
Iran, in retaliation for the Israeli strikes, has launched dozens of ballistic missile barrages at Israel, including 27 missiles fired in two salvos Sunday morning that caused injuries to 86 people, according to the Health Ministry.
The new guidelines were a return to the strictest level of restrictions imposed at the start of the campaign against Iran. They had been relaxed in recent days, allowing workplaces to resume activities and permitting small gatherings within reach of bomb shelters.
Last week, police dispersed a massive Hasidic wedding held in Jerusalem that flouted the IDF’s restrictions on public gatherings, Hebrew media outlets reported.
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered outside the Belz Hasidic dynasty’s main synagogue in the capital to celebrate the wedding of the granddaughter of Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, the sect’s spiritual leader.
The wedding was held despite the Home Front Command’s 30-person limit for public gatherings in most areas of the country, provided they could reach a protected space in time.
Israel says its sweeping assault, which began June 13, on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.
Iran has retaliated by launching over 500 ballistic missiles and around 1,000 drones at Israel.
So far, Iran’s missile attacks have killed 24 people and wounded thousands in Israel, according to health officials and hospitals. Some of the missiles that were not intercepted by Israeli air defenses have hit apartment buildings, a university, and a hospital, causing heavy damage
The Times of Israel Community.