Haredi Knesset boycott continues, putting coalition’s legislative blitz at risk

All legislation was removed from the Knesset plenum agenda for the second day in a row on Tuesday, as ultra-Orthodox lawmakers continued their boycott of coalition bills to protest the lack of advancement of the so-called Daycare Law.

The continuation of the boycott appeared to spell at signal at least a temporary halt to the coalition’s ongoing legislative blitz, coming as lawmakers attempt to pass laws splitting up the role of the attorney general, establishing a political commission of inquiry into October 7, and giving the government significant control over the media before the upcoming pre-election Knesset recess.

The Haredi-backed bill seeks to overturn an August 2024 order by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara cutting daycare subsidies for the children of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who disobey military draft orders in the wake of a High Court ruling that there was no longer a basis for the state to provide such funds for evaders.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted, despite the persistent IDF manpower shortage. Haredi lawmakers have pushed hard to legislate renewed exemptions for yeshiva students while the attorney general and High Court have pushed to cut evaders’ benefits.

In order to circumvent that decision and restore the subsidies, the bill stipulates that only the employment or educational status of a child’s mother will be taken into account when deciding on a child’s eligibility for subsidies.

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An initial Haredi-backed push to reinstate the subsidy in late 2024 failed when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the controversial legislation pulled from a Knesset vote due to lack of coalition support.

The latest push on the issue began in late May when lawmakers voted 44-37 in favor of a preliminary reading of a bill restoring the subsidy, following a threat by Moshe Gafni, the chairman of the United Torah Judaism party’s Degel HaTorah faction, to vote in favor of a state commission of inquiry into October 7 unless it was approved.

The Knesset Finance Committee subsequently voted last week to advance the legislation to its first reading in the Knesset plenum, after it was amended to give IDF reservists priority in daycare admissions and in determining subsidy levels, following demands by committee chair and Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky and other lawmakers.

‘We… will not accept any delay’

Despite the Finance Committee’s vote, the bill did not immediately advance, with Hebrew media reporting that this was due to opposition from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party.

The current Haredi boycott began Monday afternoon, leading to the removal of all legislation from the Knesset agenda. The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism and Shas parties issued a joint statement declaring that they had “informed the coalition chairman that due to the failure to put the Daycare Law on the agenda, we will not vote today in favor of coalition legislation in the Knesset plenum.”

Speaking with The Times of Israel on Tuesday, a senior Haredi political source said the Knesset’s ultra-Orthodox parties do not believe that the legislation will return to the parliamentary agenda because “there’s no majority” in favor. Therefore, the source said, the boycott would continue.

After announcing that the boycott would continue for a second day Tuesday, Degel HaTorah said in a statement that: “There was a commitment by the prime minister and Likud to bring the Daycare Law for approval. We firmly insist upon this and will not accept any delay or retreat from it.”

The second faction that makes up the UTJ party, Agudat Yisrael, confirmed that “the entire faction stands united with Degel HaTorah” in its demand that Netanyahu allow the Daycare Law to pass.

“Failure to pass the law would mean an admission by the prime minister that he is ultimately interested in dissolving the Knesset and going to elections,” it added.

In addition to derailing Tuesday’s plenum session, Haredi lawmakers caused the cancellation of a Knesset Finance Committee debate on changes to the 2026 budget on Tuesday afternoon, threatening to vote against any budget transfers unless the Daycare Law advances.

Spokespeople for Netanyahu’s Likud, the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, and coalition whip Ofir Katz did not respond to requests for comment.

According to the Ynet news site, around NIS 660 million of the NIS 1.2 billion (around 55%) allocated in the state budget for daycare subsidies goes to Haredi families each year. This is despite the Haredi population constituting just over 14% of Israel’s total population, per the Israel Democracy Institute.

Haredi politicians earlier this year blamed the cuts to daycare subsidies for the deaths of two infants in an unlicensed and massively overcrowded daycare in the ultra-Orthodox Romema neighborhood of Jerusalem, although the issue of daycare overcrowding and lax supervision long predates the attorney general’s order.

Ariela Karmel contributed to this report.