The attorney general’s campaign against Israel’s avreichim cranks up a notch
A letter from Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon states: “Under current law, pursuant to the [High Court] ruling and the expiration of Article C1, the state is no longer authorized to incentivize the Torah study of draft-eligible men via day care subsidies, i.e., the lack of authorization does not permit subsidization on the basis of studying in a religious institution while being designated for security service.”
The attorney general’s move is a result of two rulings by Israel’s High Court in March and June. The High Court found that the state no longer has the authority to provide blanket deferrals to yeshivah students after a 2015 law regulating draft exemptions expired in June 2023. The attorney general’s letter came after she met with Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur (Shas) on July 23. However, Ben Tzur had been trying to schedule that meeting for two months, as the school year drew to a close.
The decision will affect the wives of tens of thousands of avreichim under the age of 26, the cutoff age for draft eligibility. There are currently 66,000 bochurim and avreichim aged 18–26 who are legally designated for security service (“malshabim” in Israeli bureaucratese). Avreichim over 26 are legally exempt from military service and won’t be impacted by the decision. Until now, married yeshivah students whose wives work were entitled to state-subsidized day care for their children, allowing mothers to work full-time and pick up their children in the afternoon.
Day care costs in Israel are NIS 3,655 for a toddler under 15 months, NIS 2,812 for a toddler aged 15–24 months, and NIS 2,455 for a toddler over 24 months. Certain populations are entitled to state subsidies covering part of the expense. The scale of the subsidy is determined by the household’s income divided by the number of its members. To be eligible for the subsidy, both parents have to be either working or studying — which until now included studying in a kollel under Education Ministry supervision.
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