In August 2012, YWN-ISRAEL reported that a petition was filed with the High Court of Justice to halt national government funding for yeshivos. The petition targeted the Ministry of Education, based on the fact that the abolition of the Tal Law removed any legal basis for state funding of yeshivos for avreichim evading IDF service. The court instructed the ministry to respond to the petition.
According to Kol Berama Radio’s Yaakov Rivlin, the ministry has decided to hold funding for yeshivos at this stage, until such time new criteria is established to address avreichim learning instead of serving in the military.
It appears that until such time new criteria is set into place; yeshivos will not receive ministry funds, which will have a profound negative impact ahead of the Yomim Nora’im. There is no news of a timetable until the new criteria is set into place.
The report adds that roshei yeshiva and roshei kollelim are screaming for minimum funding in the hope of paying something ahead of Rosh Hashanah.
The petitioners called upon the nation’s highest court to order a halt to funding for 54,000 avreichim since the legal framework for that funding in the past no longer exists.
The halting of funds is relevant to Hesder Yeshivot as well, since with the abolition of the Tal Law the hesder framework has also lost its legal framework.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
There are b”h many gevirim in the US and Europe who could easy replace the Israeli goverments funding for ueshivas, if Satmar and Brisk (and many more)could sustain their mosdos in EY without goverment funding, so could all frum ehrliche mosdos, they should all tel the Israeli Goverment, “Lo M’Duvshoch V’Lo M’Uktzach” Don’t give us your money and our Bucherim and Yungeleit will Not serve in your Army/Navy/Air Force
Another gezera to daven for!
I agree that the logic follows (if you can call it that) that all the hesder yeshivos which are, by definition, deferral to army duty are being targeted. But what percentage the yeshivos and kollelim are actually ‘harboring draft dodgers’?
What about all the American bachurim and avreichim that do not have legal army obligation? What about all the Israeli avreichim that have been dismissed from army duty (petur)? It’s only the deferring ones that they can be having issues with and that is likely not even half!
Don’t blame the Israeli Supreme Court. A majority of 61 out of 120 members is needed to pass a constitutional amendment (one of their “basic laws”), which overrides any thing the Supreme Court says. Any actions contrary to Yiddishkeit from the Supreme Court are the respnsibility of the Kensset – the Supreme Court is only a shliach.