Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Monday blocked the transfer of some NIS 800 million ($255 million) to ultra-Orthodox educational institutions approved in a parliamentary ruse the previous night, asserting that the transfer likely violates High Court of Justice rulings against providing specific welfare benefits to Haredi men who have not enlisted for military service.

The allocation of the funds was inserted by the coalition into a legislative “reservation” to the budget late Sunday night, and since almost all reservations are submitted by the opposition, opposition MKs mistakenly voted in favor of the transfer.

In an update to the court on Monday regarding the state’s compliance with the High Court’s rulings on the issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment, Baharav-Miara stated that it appeared the coalition sought to approve the funds in this manner in order to circumvent the court’s rulings.

The High Court ruled in June 2024 that ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who had previously received blanket military service exemptions were obligated to enlist, since the legislation that formalized those arrangements had expired, and that by extension, there was no legal framework to continue financial benefits granted by the state to such students.

“Approval of the reservations in the aforementioned manner — that is, without legal and professional opinions — constitutes an apparent attempt to overcome steps........

© The Times of Israel