zahavasdad who wrote “A stipend for learning (Or any other reason) from the government would be called Welfare or a handout here in the US “
Actually it isn’t. Pell Grants and other forms of scholarships to attend academic institutions are not considered to be a form of welfare. Once the student gets beyond a certain point (typically by graduate school), stipends given to students if they do more than cover the cost of tuition (tuition waiver) and basic room and board, are considered income and are taxable in many cases (and if not taxable, only because specific rules were issued to protect them from taxation). The Israelis don’t considerd teachers in yeshivos to be the equivalent of university teachers or fellows since they would have to draft them. If in fact, if anyone receiving money (often from private donations raised abroad) beyond the cost of tuition and room and board in return for being a “Ben Yeshiva” were considered employed, unemployment in the frum community would be minimal. That is why the people in Bnei Brak and Jerusalem don’t act as if they were in a city with a high unemployment rate – if fact they have a low unemployment rate.
While in the United States “welfare” is what is given to the desperately poor, in most western countries “welfare” is when the government covers basic needs such as housing, living costs and medical care from the public treasury for all persons regardless of need. In the US, programs that are need-based such as Medicare or Social Security or subsidized tuition at public schools are NOT considered to be welfare, though in Europe the equivalent programs are considered part of the “welfare state.”
The real issue in Israel is that the ruling class wants Israel to be what to them is the “zionists” – meaning free of the yoke of Torah that they came to Israel to escape — and the hareidim are very publicly destroying their zionist dream. It’s not about employment or welfare or even serving in the army and schechting Arabs.