Coalition allocates large sums to Haredi parties in last-minute budget amendments

In a last-minute move before the state budget comes up for a final vote in the Knesset, the coalition has allocated hundreds of millions of shekels to Haredi educational institutions and other causes favored by ultra-Orthodox parties, Hebrew media outlets report.

The allocations, approved in amendments passed around midnight Sunday-Monday, appear to deliver funding that was previously blocked by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara due to the lack of Haredi enlistment in the IDF, Channel 12 reports.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid decries the allocations, calling those who approved it “a collection of lowly thieves who are disconnected from the people, who are looting the citizens of Israel while they’re in bomb shelters” due to the war with Iran.

The Knesset is debating the state budget and is expected to approve it in the early hours of Monday morning.