From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Knesset advances daycare subsidies for draft evaders after apparent Gafni threat over Oct. 7 probe
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Lawmakers vote 44-37 in favor of a preliminary reading of a bill restoring daycare subsidies for the children of draft evaders, after United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni reportedly threatened to vote in favor of a state commission of inquiry into October 7 unless the legislation was approved.
The legislation, sponsored by the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, stipulates that only the employment or educational status of a child’s mother will be taken into account when deciding on a child’s eligibility for subsidies.
“A woman’s rights regarding her work and livelihood are constitutional rights of the highest order” and decisions regarding subsidies meant to enable her to work “cannot be dependent on any person other than the woman herself,” the bill’s explanatory notes state — adding that cancelling such subsidies “based on their spouses who have chosen to dedicate their lives to Torah study, contradicts the foundations of human dignity and liberty and the freedom of occupation.”
In a statement, deputy minister Yisrael Eichler, the initiator of the bill, argues that “the Knesset’s vote in favor of the law is an important bright spot in the darkness of persecution of the entire Haredi public.”
In a statement, UTJ chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf slams Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for abstaining from the vote, stating that he had revealed “his true face” and accusing him of seeing Haredi children as just “another tool in the political game to pass the electoral threshold.”
Gafni also slams Smotrich, accusing his Religious Zionism party of ingratitude.
“We gave them everything — in terms of the settlements, budgets and positions — and yet, when it comes to issues important to the Haredi public, they turn their backs and act against us. They are completely devoid of decency and values. From now on, we will take this into account in everything regarding Religious Zionism.”
According to Hebrew media reports, Gafni, the chairman of UTJ’s Degel HaTorah faction, told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his party would vote in favor of establishing a state commission of inquiry into October 7 unless the coalition supported the bill. Netanyahu’s government has steadfastly refused to establish a state commission of inquiry, the only available independent public forum with investigative powers, into the October 7 disaster.
In August 2024, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara ordered the Labor Ministry to cut daycare subsidies for the children of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who disobey military draft orders, explaining that since the High Court has ruled that as members of the ultra-Orthodox community must be inducted into the army, there was no longer a legal basis for the state to fund daycare for those who don’t comply.
The Times of Israel Community.