High Court hears petitions against NIS 1 billion for Haredi schools that don’t teach core subjects

The High Court of Justice is hearing petitions against the recent transfer of NIS 1 billion ($315 million) to ultra-Orthodox schools by the Knesset Finance Committee.

Petitioners, including the Yesh Atid party and the Hiddush religious freedom and equality group, have argued that the transfer was illegal due to information showing the schools do not meet their legal obligation to teach the requisite number of hours of core curriculum subjects, such as math, science and English.

On December 31, the High Court issued an interim order freezing the transfer of funds, infuriating the ultra-Orthodox political parties.

In the state’s response to the petition filed late last night, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said, however, argued for the interim order to be canceled since the broader issue of state funding for ultra-Orthodox schools not teaching core curriculum studies should be dealt with in petitions addressing the larger problem and not just the recent Finance Committee transfers.

The attorney general said that if it is decided that funds were transferred to institutions that did not meet their obligations, it would be possible to offset the transferred funds from future budgets.

Separately, Baharav-Miara has written to Education Minister Yoav Kisch about internal oversight processes in the ministry regarding the failure of the ultra-Orthodox school networks to fulfil their obligations as fully funded state schools for teaching the requisite number of hours for core curriculum subjects.

“It is undisputed that a situation in which the state continues to fund institutions that do not comply with the provisions of the law cannot continue. This is not a question of policy, this is the law,” the attorney general tells Kisch.