NGO Israel Hofsheet filed a petition to the High Court of Justice demanding that funding be stopped for yeshivas for “disengaged” ultra-Orthodox youth, the organization announced Thursday.
These Yeshivas are for young ultra-Orthodox men who struggle to fit into traditional yeshiva frameworks, the NGO explained.
These frameworks “enable lifestyles that contradict the criteria for military draft exemptions and promote draft evasion,” the NGO, which works to promote religious freedom and strengthen democracy in Israel, added.
Funding for these yeshivas violates principles of equality, constitutes a misuse of public funds to encourage evading military service, is discriminatory, and lacks a professional basis, the petition argued.
The organization also said that an investigation in June showed that around 20% of haredim who are eligible for the IDF draft are enrolled at these institutions.
“According to testimonies, many students work while studying, often illegally, in violation of the conditions for military draft exemptions,” the organization alleged.
Tens of millions of misused funds
Tens of millions of Shekels are allocated to these yeshivot by the Welfare Ministry, according to the organization.
“Ever since the Haredi draft exemption arrangement had expired over a year ago, the State of Israel has essentially been funding institutions that encourage evasion, protect lawbreakers, and blatantly discriminate based on gender and sector,” Israel Hofsheet Executive Director Urid Keidar said.
“This is an outrageous misuse of public funds to promote a political agenda at the expense of fundamental principles of equality and the rule of law. The funding of institutions promoting evasion must end, especially since draft-evasion legislation is advancing, increasing the burden on active-duty and reserve soldiers during wartime.”
The petition joins additional petitions filed by the organization, which also seek to stop government subsidies and benefits for young haredim who evade the IDF draft.Â
The ultra-Orthodox IDF draft, always a contentious social issue, has come to a head as the Israel-Hamas war has seen reservists completing hundreds of days of reserves, and the IDF says it needs more manpower to deal with the new security reality.
Defense Minister Israel Katz presented in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee this week and last principles for a new haredi IDF draft bill.
These principles do not meet constitutional standards of equality, Deputy Attorney-General Gil Limon said Wednesday.
Eliav Breuer contributed to this report.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘1730128020581377’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
