MK (Yahadut HaTorah) R’ Moshe Gafne is cooperating with coalition chairman MK (Likud) Ze’ev Elkin, agreeing to use his position as chair of the Knesset Finance Committee to withhold NIS 3 billion from the Defense Ministry. The funds have been held back for two weeks, a response to Barak’s decision to withhold NIS 22 million in funding from the hesder yeshiva network, money that was due about 6 weeks ago.

Defense Ministry officials have told the hesder leaders that they are looking into it, but the badly-needed funds are being held back.

In addition, Elkin is enlisting support for his plan, to push the matter to the brink, hoping to withhold funding for the Defense Ministry until the matter of Yeshivat Har Bracha is resolved.

Hesder leaders will be convening in Beit Shapira on Sunday to discuss the recent events. The hard-liners among the roshei yeshiva are suggesting a mass exit from the hesder framework to pressure the Defense Ministry, simply to announce all the yeshivot are pulling out. The moderates are opposed and it appears their position will prevail.

What is for certain is that Barak decided to flex his political muscle to place a fiscal stranglehold on hesder, but it appears he did not calculate his ministry would find itself in an even more difficult place with the Knesset Finance Committee working to ensure hesder receives its budgetary funding.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)