The government has developed a plan to provide unpaid leave (halat) for one parent in families with a child under the age of 14 to assist working parents during the war while schools remain closed for in-person learning, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Sunday.
Schools throughout the country have continued to operate in a remote-learning format, despite the Home Front Command allowing employees to return to their workplaces in person on Thursday.
The move has sparked outrage from parents across the country and opposition lawmakers, who claim the government failed to provide an adequate solution for working parents.
The Finance Ministry stated that, through this plan, it aims to assist working parents while educational frameworks remain closed by allowing employers to receive state funding while employees are on unpaid leave.
The framework is expected to model arrangements used during previous crises in Israel, including at the start of the Israel-Hamas War in 2023 and during the 12 Day War with Iran in June.
Many employees were also placed on unpaid leave when businesses shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Under the proposal, the minimum period required to qualify for unemployment benefits during unpaid leave is expected to be shortened from 30 days to 14 consecutive days. Additional government easing is also expected to include no deduction of employees’ vacation days and the cancellation of the legally mandated waiting days, the ministry said.
Compensation for businesses affected by Iran war
The Finance Ministry also stated it is working on formulating a compensation plan for businesses, including the self-employed, whose revenue has been affected. This separate plan is expected to be published in the coming days.
Further details will be published soon, in accordance with the status of the education system closures, the ministry added.
Addressing criticism from parents, Smotrich stated, “It is important for me to clarify: the Home Front Command’s guidelines allowing people to go to work are not mandatory. We understand that not everyone can return to work while the education system is closed, and in the coming days, we will publish a special compensation framework that takes this into account.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) slammed the government over the plan, saying it was disconnected from reality and questioning how parents would cover costs while staying home with their children.
“The government is telling parents to take unpaid leave because their children are at home during wartime. How does the finance minister think these people will pay at the supermarket or cover their electricity bills?” Lapid said.
Smotrich responded to Lapid in a post on X/Twitter that the state would cover the cost.
“We are allowing those who want to go to work to go to work, and those who do not want to or cannot to stay at home and receive pay funded by the state in accordance with the halat framework, as was the case in previous situations,” the finance minister wrote.
Critics have sharply criticized the government for reopening workplaces without synchronizing the move with the return of students to schools, leaving parents throughout the country without a clear solution.
The Education Ministry shifted schools to remote learning amid ongoing Iranian missile strikes directed at Israel.
In contrast, the Finance Ministry called for workplaces to reopen on Wednesday, citing the toll the shutdown was taking on the country’s economy.
On Thursday, Lapid said it was “unacceptable that the Education Ministry is not coordinated with the Finance Ministry and local authorities.”
The opposition leader said government ministries were failing to provide citizens with an adequate response during the war.