From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Knesset Finance Committee cancels budget debate amid boycott by Haredi MKs
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"
The Knesset Finance Committee cancels a debate on changes to the 2026 budget after ultra-Orthodox lawmakers threaten to vote against any budget transfers in response to the coalition’s failure to advance legislation aimed at restoring daycare subsidies to the children of Haredi draft evaders.
MK Moshe Gafni, the chairman of the United Torah Judaism party’s Degel HaTorah faction, has “now informed the coalition that due to the lack of progress in advancing the Daycare Law, the two Degel Hatorah representatives on the Finance Committee will vote against all budget transfers that will be brought to the committee for approval today,” a spokesman for the lawmaker says in a statement.
Speaking with The Times of Israel today, a senior Haredi political source expressed doubt that the daycare bill would be passed, stating that there was “no majority” for it. The source said that the Haredi parties would thus continue a boycott of coalition legislation that began yesterday afternoon.
Vladimir Beliak (Yesh Atid), an opposition member of the committee, tells The Times of Israel in light of the news, “The representatives of the draft dodgers in the Knesset are this time disrupting the activities of government ministries and blocking budget transfers in the Finance Committee, including funds for social ministries.”
He says, “This is a coalition in disarray, this is a paralyzed Knesset. It is time to stop the disgrace, dissolve the Knesset and go to elections.”
The Times of Israel Community.