Turbulence Over Yeshiva Funding: A Credit Battle Between Shas and UTJ — and Another Promise Unlikely to Be Kept
As lawmakers continue struggling to push through a new draft law, a behind-the-scenes uproar erupted Tuesday over an attempt to slash funding for bnei yeshiva. United Torah Judaism announced early on that it would fight the move, while today, Shas rushed to release its own statement claiming the issue had already been resolved — sparking an embarrassing tussle over who deserved credit. Questions also resurfaced about a long-standing promise to anchor yeshiva funding in the state budget, a commitment that has never been fulfilled.
Although chareidi MKs are formally not part of the coalition, they are expected to support the state budget — reportedly in exchange for passage of a draft law, as pledged by Prime Minister Netanyahu. Meanwhile, efforts to chip away at support for the Olam HaTorah have not subsided.
This time, the budget for yeshiva students was at risk. Treasury officials, together with legal advisers, attempted to reduce funding by lowering the “point value,” the mechanism through which yeshivas receive state support per student.
The first to detect the move was Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni, who issued a statement Tuesday warning:
“The yeshiva budget is expected to drop sharply this month in the point value compared to previous months. This does not concern students who are obligated to enlist according to law, but rather avreichim and foreign students who are fully entitled to this support.”
Gafni added: “It is absurd that the legal advisers are preventing use of funds approved by the government and the Knesset for those eligible. I have contacted all relevant officials to address this immediately. We will not allow this to pass quietly!”
Later, UTJ released an official statement announcing that MK Uri Maklev would convene the faction before the Knesset plenary to address what they called “harassment by the bureaucracy and the Attorney General’s Office against the yeshiva budget.” Shas, at that time, remained silent.
Today, after chareidi lawmakers managed to settle the dispute with the prime minister, Shas rushed to issue the first announcement claiming the matter had been resolved — positioning themselves as the ones who delivered the solution.
The Shas statement read: “Good news for the Olam HaTorah: Through the efforts of Shas chairman Rabbi Aryeh Deri, the funds cut from the yeshiva world have been restored, and the point value will once again stand at approximately 400, as it did at the start of the year. As is known, due to the intervention of the legal advisers, the point value was cut this year to 320. This issue has now been settled.”
The party added: “Shas will continue fighting within the 2026 budget to raise the point value to the highest level it has ever been.”
UTJ published its own statement more than 50 minutes later, saying: “The UTJ faction convened this morning for an urgent session following the harassment by the bureaucracy and Attorney General’s Office against the yeshiva budget. Through the efforts of MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni, funds were reallocated so the point value will not be reduced this month and will be paid at the same rate as in previous months.”
But their release also included a familiar — and embarrassing — pledge: “We will continue working to ensure that the yeshiva budget is included in the base budget for the coming academic year.”
The statement concluded by noting that funding for foreign students and welfare-related institutions “has still not been resolved,” and that the faction would continue working to address the issue.
What Is the “Point Value”?
The “point value” is the fixed amount the government pays a yeshiva per student, with each student type assigned a specific number of points. The total points determine how much state support the institution receives.
A yeshiva student typically counts as one point (around NIS 476–480), while a full-day kollel student is weighted at about 1.8 points (roughly NIS 846).
Nearly two years ago, the High Court ruled on aspects of this system, affecting how support is calculated. The government nevertheless found ways to continue funding yeshivas within the basic framework.
The Elusive Goal: Embedding Yeshiva Funding in the Base Budget
UTJ once again pledged — as it has many times in the past — to anchor the yeshiva budget directly into the state’s base budget rather than relying on coalition allocations. Despite repeated promises before and after elections, this goal has never been achieved.
During the Bennett–Lapid government, when chareidi parties sat in the opposition, the issue took on renewed urgency, and chareidi politicians declared that the next coalition would surely resolve it. That did not happen.
The central question remains: Why did chareidi lawmakers repeatedly agree to rely on temporary coalition funds for something so essential to their constituency, instead of legislating permanent funding in Knesset law?
One insider said: “Maybe we were complacent, thinking we’d be in power for 200 years and would never be thrown out. Bennett, Lapid, and Lieberman taught us a lesson. If we do even half of what they’re doing now, we’ll break records.”
MK Uri Maklev, who headed multiple coalition negotiations for UTJ, described the dilemma as a cost-benefit analysis: “The natural growth of the yeshiva world is ‘unnatural,’ so for every three million shekels we wanted to add, there were days of arguments. We exhausted every negotiation. We fought every time, but you have to know what’s worth fighting for and what isn’t.”
According to Maklev, the Treasury often offered a large one-time sum versus a much smaller permanent increase in the base budget. With many other community needs on the table, the chareidi parties opted for the one-time boosts.
Not everyone accepts that explanation. Some political insiders — including chareidi figures — argued that electoral considerations played a part:
“The truth is it served our political interest. It ensured people would keep voting for us.”
Others within Shas and UTJ rejected that claim: “This is not the only reason we’re in the Knesset. We have many other responsibilities. The yeshiva budget is not the centerpiece of our campaign messaging. Anyone saying otherwise just wants to provoke.”
Some critics pointed at former Finance Committee chairman MK Moshe Gafni: “He was the father and mother of the Finance Committee. How did he not insist this be included every budget cycle? Look at how Koushner is operating now — without brakes.”
Gafni responded sharply: “It’s ingratitude. I didn’t travel abroad; I worked day and night to approve every shekel — battling legal advisers and the media. I added 840 million shekels to the base budget when previously there were only 200 million. To claim I stopped incorporation of the yeshiva budget into the base budget, as if I’m in some internal election — it’s nonsense. It doesn’t interest me.”
Former Shas minister Meshulam Nahari added: “The entire chareidi funding framework is flawed. During the 2009 coalition talks, we had a genuine chance to legislate this and activate the automatic-growth mechanism, but it was lost due to political mistakes. This must be fixed through legislation. We cannot remain beggars.”
{Matzav.com}
