From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 28, 2024
Ultra-Orthodox party submits new bill on day care subsidies in effort to bypass clash on draft law, budget
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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"
In a statement, the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party announces that MK Yisrael Eichler has submitted a bill on the matter of daycare subsidies for ultra-Orthodox children, which are currently linked to military draft exemptions.
The bill stipulates that only a mother’s employment status will be taken into consideration for the purpose of examining the state’s participation in covering the cost of daycare.
The party demands that the coalition advance the bill through all three readings necessary to become law as quickly as possible.
The announcement comes after Channel 12 reports that the leading rabbis who set policy for UTJ have instructed the party leadership to drop an ultimatum demanding that the government postpone work on the budget until it passes a bill exempting Haredi yeshiva students from military service. Instead, they are to focus on the issue of daycare subsidies.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has ordered the payments halted, arguing that the state is legally barred from funding daycare subsidies for the children of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who are obligated to perform military service but are not doing so.
Responding to the announcement, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid states that the point of Eichler’s bill is to allow Haredim to evade service in the IDF.
The Times of Israel Community.