Finance Minister Smotrich: I Will Continue To Fund Charedi Daycare Despite A-G’s ‘Flawed’ Opinion

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich has announced his intention to continue subsidizing daycare for charedi families, despite objections from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, according to a report by Yisrael Hayom.

The dispute centers on funding for charedi men of military draft age, which was peremptorily cancelled by Baharav-Miara in the wake of the cancellation of the law allowing for charedi draft deferments. Miara claimed that the subsidies were given to support the Torah studies of the men based on the obsolete deferment law.

Smotrich fired off a detailed letter to Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon and Finance Ministry Legal Advisor Assi Messing. In it, he argued that canceling the daycare budget would severely hamper charedi women’s entry into the workforce, impede the sector’s job market integration, condemn it to poverty, and overstep their authority.

Smotrich expressed outrage that the decision was made between government lawyers without consulting him as finance minister.

“It’s astounding that you conduct discussions, exchange correspondence, and make far-reaching budgetary and economic decisions among yourselves without even considering it appropriate to involve the Finance Minister or seek his position. This is a state within a state,” he wrote.

Smotrich contended that discussions without his involvement led to an erroneous decision. “The premise for this decision – that daycare subsidies are given to support the father’s Torah study – is fundamentally flawed, based on a misinterpretation of the Supreme Court ruling on yeshiva funding after the conscription law expired. This assumption is baseless. The subsidy has nothing to do with the father’s Torah study. It’s meant to incentivize mothers to enter the workforce by helping finance childcare,” the letter said. “The subsidy’s declared goal is to promote charedi women’s integration into the job market. The government decided to extend it to mothers whose husbands study in yeshiva and aren’t home. This practical decision recognizes a simple reality: in charedi families where fathers study Torah, mothers often stay home with children, even at the cost of poverty and a low standard of living.”

The finance minister argued that daycare subsidies have successfully driven many charedi women into the workforce. “It’s been an overwhelming success. The past two decades have seen a dramatic rise in charedi women’s employment. One would have to be blind not to see the positive impacts on the economy, charedi society, and the nation as a whole,” he wrote, contending that cutting daycare subsidies would deal a severe blow to the economy.

Smotrich demanded that the legal advisors “immediately retract your fundamentally flawed opinion. Allow me to continue my economic policy supporting growth and charedi women’s workforce integration. Refrain from illegally and unreasonably sabotaging it and the economy. By virtue of my authority as finance minister, I’m ordering the continuation of daycare subsidies, per Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry criteria.”

Anticipating a Supreme Court challenge, Smotrich wrote, “If you believe my decision is illegal, you’re free to petition the Supreme Court. There, I’ll demand independent representation.”

The finance minister concluded with sharp criticism, “It’s hard to escape the feeling that regarding the charedi public and its budgets, you’re repeatedly driven by a hostile agenda that seeks every possible way to harm and obstruct. If only you’d invest a fraction of the energy you spend trying to cut charedi budgets in helping me prevent government funds from leaking to criminal organizations, in fighting black market capital, and more.”