Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government approved the inclusion of over NIS 5 billion ($1.6 billion) in discretionary coalition funds for Haredi institutions, West Bank settlements and other party priorities in the 2026 state budget on Tuesday, drawing harsh condemnations from opposition politicians who claimed the allocations constituted a subsidy for draft evasion.

Coalition funds are money allocated in the budget-planning process based on agreements struck between the parties during coalition negotiations at the formation of the government.

According to Hebrew media reports, the Finance Ministry opposed the allocation of the funds, 53.19 percent, or NIS 2.2 billion ($714.8 million) of which went to the ultra-Orthodox community, according to a study by the by the Berl Katznelson Center think tank.

The funds include NIS 1.56 billion for Torah institutions such as yeshivas and kollels (yeshivas for married men), NIS 6 million (around $2 million) for economic development efforts in the Haredi community, and NIS 77 million ($24.9 million) for Haredi cultural activities.

Coalition funds to the tune of NIS 75 million ($24.3 million) will flow to “recognized but unofficial schools,” which commit to teaching 75 percent of the curriculum and receive 75 percent of the funding of state schools — while so-called exempt schools, which receive about 55 percent of the funding allocated to state schools, provided they teach 55 percent of the core curriculum, will receive NIS 32 million ($10.3 million).

An additional NIS 49 million ($15.8 million) will go toward programs aimed at preventing youths, some of whom are viewed as at-risk of substance abuse or crime, from dropping out of yeshivas or leaving the ultra-Orthodox community.

Dropout yeshivas are geared toward Haredi men who are not interested........

© The Times of Israel