The Knesset overwhelmingly passed into law on Monday the Nahari bill, which requires local authorities to contribute to the cost of running private educational institutions, in most cases ultra-Orthodox schools. The Local Authorities Council estimates the annual cost of the bill for municipal authorities at NIS 250 million. The approval of the bill is considered an important success for Shas, and is regarded as a the coalition’s gesture to the ultra-Orthodox party. All presidential candidates, Shimon Peres, Colette Avital and Rubi Rivlin, voted in favor. Likud and National Religious Party MKs abstained. (Haaretz)