The High Court of Justice on Thursday heard petitions challenging a December 25 decision by the Knesset Finance Committee to approve hundreds of millions of shekels in transfers to party-affiliated haredi (ultra-Orthodox) education networks.
The interim order freezing the transfers would remain in force, leaving the funds frozen pending further proceedings, the court ruled.
This comes after Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara said that the state cannot continue to fund ultra-Orthodox (haredi) educational institutions that do not comply with core legal requirements.
In the opinion sent to Education Minister Yoav Kisch, the Attorney-General’s Office stated that the continued funding of institutions that do not meet statutory obligations “cannot persist,” and that an effective supervision and enforcement framework must be formulated and implemented without delay.
Advisory opinion: State budgeting of institutions that do not comply with law a 'legal issue'
The advisory opinion, authored by Deputy Attorney-General Avital Sompolinsky, outlines a sweeping critique of the current regulatory regime governing haredi education networks.
It identifies compliance with core curriculum studies, teacher qualification requirements, standardized measurement, and reporting obligations as threshold conditions for continued full state funding.
“The situation in which the state continues to budget institutions that do not comply with the law is not a matter of policy,” the opinion states. “It is a legal issue.”
The attorney-general’s position was issued as the High Court convened to hear two related petitions together: one challenging the legality of more than NIS 1 billion in budgetary reallocations approved by the Knesset Finance Committee for haredi educational frameworks, and a second directed against the Education Ministry concerning the ongoing funding of institutions that do not teach the full core curriculum.
In the opinion, Sompolinsky warned that delays in finalizing a professional enforcement framework – alongside the recent government decision to establish a ministerial committee to define “policy” in the area – risk undermining lawful administrative processes and creating improper bypass mechanisms.
She described the establishment of the ministerial committee as procedurally flawed and cautioned that it appeared intended to exempt haredi education networks from obligations imposed by law.
The opinion stresses that the government does not possess the discretion to decide whether haredi education networks comply with statutory requirements.
Interpretation and application of those requirements, it states, are legal determinations, not political ones, even in light of the networks’ close political affiliation with haredi parties.
According to the Attorney-General’s Office, extensive factual reviews conducted over the past year revealed significant gaps in compliance across multiple dimensions, including the scope of core curriculum instruction, the qualifications of teachers teaching core subjects, the absence of systematic participation in standardized testing, and deficiencies in reporting and oversight mechanisms.
The opinion further asserts that full compliance with core curriculum requirements – rather than partial compliance – constitutes a prerequisite for full funding under the “All Children of Israel” budgeting framework.
Institutions that do not meet those requirements, it states, cannot lawfully continue to receive funding on the same basis as fully compliant schools.
While acknowledging that enforcement had been neglected for years, the Attorney-General’s Office emphasized that the solution lies in the rapid formulation of a comprehensive, professional supervision and enforcement plan, potentially implemented in stages, rather than continued regulatory inaction.
The opinion also situates the dispute within a broader legal context, noting that several petitions currently before the High Court address different aspects of haredi education funding, including attempts to expand budgets through the application of education reforms.