Bayit Yehudi leader Minister Naftali Bennett along with party members Ayelet Shaked and Deputy Minister Avi Wortzman met with a number of roshei yeshiva affiliated with hesder yeshivot and dati leumi yeshivos gedolos. The meeting came ahead of the scheduled meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee, which is expected to release 65 million NIS for yeshivos, as was reported by YWN-ISRAEL.

Of the total sum, 15 million NIS will be allocated for hesder yeshivos. Bennett told the roshei yeshiva, led by Rabbi Chaim Druckman, that he plans to fight to get funding back for yeshiva students from abroad studying in Eretz Yisrael. As was reported earlier, that budget cut hurts the dati leumi yeshivos no less than the chareidi mosdos.

Rav Druckman commended the effort and stressed the importance of funding to permit continued Torah study, which he said is not sectoral but for the benefit of all of Am Yisrael.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)