Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Monday, July 3, 2023

Committee advances bill to give Haredi candidates preference in government companies, city halls

By Carrie Keller-Lynn 3 July 2023, 12:14 pm 0 Edit

Carrie Keller-Lynn is a political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel

United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni chairs a Knesset Finance Committee on May 15, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Knesset’s Welfare Committee advances a bill that would give ultra-Orthodox candidates preferred representation in government companies and city halls.

The bill would create affirmative action for Haredi job candidates, giving them preference over similarly qualified non-ultra-Orthodox candidates.

It would also guarantee jobs for Haredi candidates by requiring certain local authorities to employ Haredim at a rate proportional to their representation in the population.

United Torah Judaism lawmaker Moshe Gafni, who backed the bill, tells the committee, “You always say that there’s a need to integrate the Haredi population in the workforce. Here you go.”

The bill is approved for its first reading on the Knesset floor.