The Knesset Finance Committee on Tuesday approved the transfer of approximately NIS 270 million to haredi (ultra-Orthodox) education institutions amid the Knesset’s recess ahead of the election.
The approval came after a lengthy and stormy debate in the committee, in which opposition lawmakers argued that the meeting should not take place during the recess and that the process for convening was not carried out properly.
The committee convened after Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana (Likud) approved the meeting despite the lack of the usual required agreement from the Knesset’s Coordination Committee.
The committee approved approximately NIS 1 billion in budget allocations for the Education Ministry, the Settlement and National Missions Ministry, and the Religious Services Ministry.
The funds allocated to the haredi education systems reportedly amounted to approximately NIS 270m.
Lawmakers respond to the decision to transfer millions to haredi education
The Degel Hatorah faction within the haredi United Torah Judaism Party stated that the Finance Committee had approved a series of budget transfers totaling approximately a quarter of a billion shekels for the haredi education system.
Degel Hatorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni welcomed the approval of the funds, stating that “when the world of Torah study and education faces significant difficulties, it is our duty to continue caring for Israel’s children and the haredi education system.”
Opposition lawmakers sharply criticized the transfer, with a key point of contention being the allocation of funds to haredi institutions that often do not teach mandatory core curriculum subjects, along with the haredi conscription issue amid the IDF’s severe manpower shortage.
Finance Committee member Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak stated after the transfers that the government had “sold out Israelis who work and serve to Gafni and [Shas Party leader Arye] Deri."
“They simply took your money, your children’s money. hundreds of millions of shekels, and transferred it to draft dodgers,” he added.
Democrats MK Naama Lazimi also criticized the transfer of the funds.
“The draft-dodging government continues to loot the funds belonging to all of us,” she said.
Challenges to the budget transfers will be reviewed by High Court on Wednesday
Supreme Court Justice Alex Stein ordered petitioners challenging the series of Finance Committee budget transfers to report back to the High Court of Justice by 9 a.m. Wednesday on the decisions approved during the committee’s meeting.
The decision keeps the urgent petition filed by the Hiddush religious-freedom organization and Lazimi before the court, and means the transfers approved Tuesday will be placed before Stein within hours of the vote.
The court will instead receive an updated account of the committee’s decisions on Wednesday morning before determining whether further responses or interim judicial measures are required.
Hiddush and Lazimi filed the petition on Tuesday morning after Finance Committee chairman Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky did not cancel the meeting in response to a warning letter sent by the petitioners.
The petition initially challenged proposed transfers totaling more than NIS 360m., including approximately NIS 280m. that the petitioners said was intended for haredi and religious educational institutions. It asked the court to prevent the meeting from taking place or, alternatively, to block the transfer of any money approved during it.
The petitioners argue that convening the committee violated the Knesset’s rules for the election recess. According to the petition, the Finance Committee was permitted to hold only one meeting during the first two weeks of the recess, and had already used that authorization for a July 29 meeting that ended without approving the transfers.
They further argue that several of the budget requests placed on Tuesday’s agenda had not been discussed before the Knesset entered recess. They describe the allocations as an attempt by the outgoing coalition to direct public funds toward politically allied sectors during an election period.
The case comes against the background of an earlier legal dispute over a NIS 1.08b. education transfer approved by the Finance Committee on December 25, 2025.
During a High Court hearing in January, it emerged that approximately NIS 400m. had already been distributed before the committee voted. The court sharply criticized the practice and temporarily froze the remaining transfers.
The Knesset’s legal department later agreed that bringing budget transfers to the committee only after the money had been distributed was unlawful and undermined parliamentary oversight.
It nevertheless argued that employees who had already received salaries should not be required to repay them, and instead sought a forward-looking order preventing the practice from recurring.
The update due Wednesday morning will give Stein the precise results of Tuesday’s meeting and allow the court to determine whether the approved transfers require immediate intervention.