Israel Attorney General blocks funding to Haredi schools after controversial budget vote

The Israeli government's legal advisor has blocked funding to Haredi schools, after a clause was "secretly" added to the budget bill shortly before it was voted on in the Knesset.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Monday said she would block the transfer of funds to ultra-Orthodox educational institutions, saying that a Sunday night "reservation" added to the budget went against earlier High Court rulings.

The annex to Monday's budget bill allocated around $255 million to Haredi schools, causing outrage among the Israeli opposition, who mistakenly backed the bill.

The Israeli High Court had blocked such funding due to the low uptake among the ultra-Orthodox for military conscription, part of a long legal battle on the issue of Haredi national service.

"Approval of the reservations in the aforementioned manner - that is, without legal and professional opinions - constitutes an apparent attempt to overcome steps taken to implement the [High Court] ruling on conscription, as well as other related judgments concerning the provision of benefits to draft evaders," Attorney General Baharav Miara wrote to the High Court, according to The Times of Israel.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid also said he would file a petition to the High Court on the issue, after his party accidentally voted for the budget, which grants billions more shekels to the military for its war against Iran.

On Monday, he described the bill as "the greatest theft in the history of the state" after news of the Haredi education funding issue came to light.

The passing of the bill, thanks to support from ultra-Orthodox and opposition parties, saved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government from having to call an early election.

It comes amid an ongoing battle to force Israel's growing Haredi population, who have traditionally been exempt from the draft, to enlist in the military.

Secular Israelis from the left and right have long opposed the ultra-Orthodox's exemption from conscription, and political parties and judges have fought hard to ensure they take part in military service.

Haredi Israelis often remain full-time students in Jewish schools during conscription age, which has allowed them to evade service, with the funding of the yeshiva potentially allowing them to receive a stipend during their education.

Netanyahu and Smotrich said earlier this month that controversial legislation exempting ultra-Orthodox men from military service will be shelved for now, citing the soaring costs of Israel’s war with Iran. 

They appeared to need the backing of both the ultra-Orthodox parties and the opposition to pass the budget, leading to the secretive Haredi funding annex to the bill.

Israel’s High Court previously ruled that the decades-long blanket exemption traditionally granted to full-time Haredi yeshiva students was illegal.

Haredi leaders have continued to push for legislation that would keep ultra-Orthodox students out of military service, leading to large protests among the community, sometimes ending with clashes with the police.

Israelis see the government's legislation as being too weak to deal with the issue sufficiently, and that funding to yeshivas will allow Haredi students to continue to avoid the draft.

Right-wing Netanyahu opponent Naftali Bennett vowed to investigate "the sabotage of Haredi enlistment" if he were elected prime minister.

“In the new government, I will establish a special commission of inquiry regarding the sabotage of Haredi enlistment, in a time of war, which harmed Israel’s security,” he said, according to The Times of Israel.

"[We] will look into who, exactly, acted to deprive us of tens of thousands of soldiers needed by the [Israeli forces] in order to win. Everyone who knowingly took part in violating the Security Service Law during wartime will be investigated."