From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
NGO demands probe of widespread Haredi fraud in daycare subsidies
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"
Advocacy group Israel Hofsheet calls on the government to probe “the severe phenomenon of encouraging fraud and criminal behavior in daycare subsidy applications.”
In a letter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, the group’s attorneys demand the opening of a criminal investigation into the matter after the Calcalist business daily reported that the government suspects tens of thousands of members of the ultra-Orthodox community had illegally received subsidies in recent years.
According to the report, the government cross-referenced applications for discounts against National Insurance Institute data, causing it to more than double the number of rejected applications.
“The request details findings indicating that certain guidelines not only allow but even encourage the submission of false subsidy applications by exploiting regulatory loopholes. Each fraudulent claim amounts to tens of thousands of shekels that individuals have attempted to unlawfully obtain from the state,” Israel Hofsheet says in a statement.
In their letter, Israel Hofsheet’s attorneys call not only to probe those submitting false claims but also “elected officials and parties who encourage the public to systematically violate the law.”
This is the second demand for a probe by the group, which recently demanded an investigation into a Ynet report that a hotline set up by the United Torah Judaism party’s Hasidic Agudat Yisrael faction had instructed members of the Haredi community on how to circumvent a High Court ruling restricting daycare subsidies for children of yeshiva students who fail to enlist.
The Times of Israel Community.