From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 26, 2026
Knesset data shows 55,000 children under 3 are in unsupervised daycare in Jerusalem
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"
Over 55 thousand children under the age of three in Jerusalem are in unsupervised daycare frameworks, the Knesset Research and Information Center informs lawmakers during a discussion of early childhood education called in the wake of the deaths of two infants at an unlicensed Jerusalem daycare last week.
According to the research body’s report, 55.1 thousand children are currently outside the supervised daycare system in the capital with an additional 13.4 thousand in Beit Shemesh, 12 thousand in Bnei Brak, 7.5 thousand in Tel Aviv and 6.1 thousand in Rahat.
Only 21 percent of children under three in Jerusalem are registered at supervised daycares, a number lower than the 44% in Bnei Brak, 45% in Ashdod, 49% in Netanya, 53% in Haifa, 55% in Holon, 58% in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, 61% in Petah Tikva, 61% in Rishon LeZion and 62% in Beer Sheva.
The data is presented to the Knesset Education Committee, which is holding a joint discussion with the Knesset Welfare Committee and the Committee on the Rights of the Child in the wake of the tragic deaths of Leah Goloventzitz, 4 months old, and Aharon Katz, 6 months old.
Both died and another 53 babies and toddlers were injured to varying degrees in an incident at an unlicensed Jerusalem daycare last Monday, prompting the arrest of three of the caregivers working there.
Footage from the scene showed serious overcrowding, with children sleeping on mattresses placed under a toilet in a bathroom. Police believe the two babies died of heat exhaustion and dehydration linked to a faulty heating system in the illegal daycare.
Haredi politicians blamed the incident on efforts to conscript ultra-Orthodox men to the IDF, which has led to cuts to daycare subsidies for the children of evaders. The incident also led to widespread rioting by Haredim opposed to autopsying the children.
Discussing the incident in the Knesset Education Committee today, Labor MK Naama Lazimi accuses United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf of trying “to whitewash the disaster” and of being “part of the problem.”
In response, committee chairman Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism) accuses Lazimi of inciting against the Haredi public.
עימות בין ח"כ לזימי לח"כ גולדקנופף בדיון בועדת החינוך על אסון המעון בירושלים: "אתה בא לפה בשם החברה החרדית ומטייח את האסון. אתה חלק מהבעיה ולא הפתרון".
יו"ר הועדה, ח"כ סוכות: "את משתמשת באסון כדי להסית נגד הציבור החרדי" pic.twitter.com/2zDJVOLxPy— חזקי ברוך (@HezkeiB) January 26, 2026
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