High Court orders cessation of yeshiva funding from April 1 for students eligible for the draft

In a dramatic step, the High Court of Justice issues an interim order barring the government from funding the monthly stipends of at least some ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students after April 1, as the legal framework for deferring their military service will no longer exist.

Yeshiva students who did not get a military service deferral after July 1, 2023, and who have not presented themselves for conscription will now be ineligible for the monthly stipends, the court rules.

Those who received exemptions before that date will still be eligible, although their stipends will also likely be shortly cut off if the government does not pass a new legislative framework for them to obtain military service exemptions.

Tens of thousands of haredi yeshiva students receive monthly stipends for their yeshiva studies, and these payments are of critical importance to the ultra-Orthodox political parties.