JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Israel’s Ministry of Construction and Housing announced on Wednesday that charedi applicants who registered for the government’s “Apartment with Discount” (Dira B’Hanacha) housing lottery have been disqualified from participating because they are classified as draft evaders.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The move follows an order by the Supreme Court of Israel directing the government to tighten enforcement against individuals obligated to serve in the military and to deny certain economic benefits to those who fail to report for IDF service.
In an email sent to thousands of Torah students, the ministry wrote: “In accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision and the resolution of the Israel Land Council, effective May 25, 2026, eligibility to participate in the ‘Apartment with Discount’ lottery is contingent upon IDF records showing that neither the applicant nor either member of a couple registering for the lottery is classified by the IDF as a person liable for military service who has not regularized his or her status.
“According to information received from the IDF, you are classified as someone who has not regularized your status. Therefore, you are not eligible to participate in the lottery.”
As part of implementing the new policy in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives, the government has decided to revoke five major state benefits from individuals classified as draft evaders:
- Eligibility for the “Apartment with Discount” housing lotteries.
- Subsidized tuition at institutions of higher education.
- Discounts on after-school childcare programs.
- Subsidized public transportation.
- Municipal property tax (arnona) discounts.
MK Meir Porush criticized the Housing Ministry’s decision, saying:
“The land of the Land of Israel was given by the Holy One, Blessed be He, to the Jewish people. Every Jew has a share in this land, and the Housing Ministry’s announcement conveys a message of taking away what rightfully belongs to each of us.
“Every Jew has the right to live in the Land of Israel, and therefore every Jew is also entitled to all the rights the state grants regarding land.”
Okay, half a million chareidi population should serve in the IDF, but what about the 2 million arab citizens of Israel, 99% of whom don’t serve? Why aren’t the arabs disqualified from the various government programs?!
Logical conclusion: it isn’t about the IDF and it isn’t about the reduction of welfare state. It is all about the chiloni establishment marginalizing and ostracizing the chareidi population.
Luckily our Arab friends are not disqualified because of their great contributions to society such as terrorist stabbings and truck rammings
Eretz yishmael, a land with one set of laws and standards and benefits for an Arab population including supporting terrorists in jail for decades, and another set of laws and standards to punish the people who accepted being poor for the sake of Hashem and the Torah and committing to high religious standards and listening to the rabbis. What kind of Jewish state is that
Israel Supreme Court make up laws while ignoring other laws, all to further their leftwing agenda. The court can’t even be reformed because the court gave themselves the power to void any law they don’t like and obviously they don’t like any law that changes the way they operate.
“and therefore every Jew is also entitled to all the rights the state grants regarding land”. Lottery is not a right. Grants aren’t rights. They are privileges that can justifiably be only afforded to those who share the full burden (if they are physically able). Sitting in the comfort of a bais medrash without risking one’s life, or at least directly/physically aiding, can rightfully be a disqualifying factor.
I’m not a zionist or anti. Just thinking out loud.
Can someone please explain to me why we should listen to Rebbeim, Roshei Yeshivot, and Daas Torah regarding entering the draft, but totally ignore the same Rebbeim, Roshei Yeshivot, and Daas Torah regarding wasting time on the Internet? Especially, those that are posting their message from their smart phones?
Unforunately, due to the lack of Hashem in their lives and not being thought anything about the Torah, they do not know that only Hashem is in charge. The more they fight the Torah and the Jews that follow the Torah the more in danger Eretz Yisroel is in. Stop the hate Start loving your fellow Jew
The government hates the Chareidim so much!
Soon they will take away our citizenship God forbid.
I live in EY
We must unite
There is no reason why the Arabs shouldn’t serve . Sherut Leumi.
They should be the free garbage collectors for their neighborhoods.
Why should Israrli gov pay to clean up their streets and garbage.
Have them do it.
Do road repairs in their neighborhoods for free.
They should leave EY if they don’t like our rules
Here comes another fundraiser to your neighborhood.
The State doesn’t need to support Torah study, after all, the founders were secular atheists, they had no intention to support Torah. They do need to treat all citizens fairly & equally.
If all citizens get this discount, the Chareidim should too.
If this is a special privilege than then I would say, we need to support our own institutions, not rely on an anti Torah secular to support us.
The problem remains that the Anti Torah secularists don’t allow Chareidim to have a job & earn a living when they’re classified as draft dodgers.
A real mess.
Zionists want torah learners to be homeless
It’s time for religious Jews in Israel to seriously consider moving elsewhere.
Unfortunately, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to live in Israel as a religious Jew. The Israeli government is slowly taking away many of the religious freedoms people once believed they had.
Israel is the only modern country where religious Jews are being hunted down and arrested for practicing their Judaism.
It’s a sad and alarming reality that many never thought they’d see.