A-G warns haredi schools face funding cuts over core curriculum gaps
During the hearing, the justices sharply criticized the state. Justice Gila Canfy-Steinitz asked the state's representative: "Under what law or procedure were the funds transferred?"
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara warned this Friday of potential funding cuts for ultra-Orthodox education institutions, due to significant gaps in their compliance with the core curriculum requirements. According to Education Ministry data, these institutions are not fully adhering to their obligation to teach the entire curriculum, and there are issues with supervising and enforcing adherence to these obligations.
The Attorney General emphasized that the state will only continue providing funding to these institutions if they meet the basic obligations, which include teaching the complete core curriculum and employing teaching staff with proper training. Additionally, they must participate in measurement and assessment programs, work with supervision and enforcement mechanisms, and fulfill reporting requirements, all of which will start in the current school year.
Responding to this decision, United Torah Judaism's Degel HaTorah chairman, MK Moshe Gafni, expressed his disapproval by questioning the authority of the Attorney General to dictate education policies. He questioned the constitutionality of such decisions, especially during an election period, and demanded that all Israeli children study the 613 commandments, Jewish tradition, Torah, Prophets, Writings, and Gemara, and that those who do not study these should not receive funding.
The Yesh Atid Party had previously petitioned the High Court of Justice in December 2025 regarding budget transfers to ultra-Orthodox educational institutions. They claimed that the government had formed a ministerial team in December 2025 to formulate and implement policies for ultra-Orthodox education. However, the party argued that this team was actually intended to circumvent the core curriculum requirement, Supreme Court rulings, and the Attorney General's directives concerning funding reductions for haredi educational institutions.
The High Court subsequently issued an interim order that froze the transfer of coalition funds to unsupervised ultra-Orthodox educational institutions. During the hearing, justices questioned the state about the legality of the funding transfers, criticizing the process as unlawful and suggesting that the Knesset Finance Committee's discussions on the funding were not genuine, as the money had already been transferred before the required approvals were received.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
