Despite claims to the contrary, over the past three years, the Education Ministry did not remove funding from schools failing to teach core subjects such as math and English, only deducting less than half a percent from funding for the United Torah Judaism party’s education network, according to a Sunday report.

The revelations by Channel 13 were in line with a 2025 research report by the Israel Democracy Institute, which found that only a small fraction of the ultra-Orthodox boys’ elementary schools that fail to teach core curriculum subjects as required by law face any sanctions.

Apparently disregarding the lack of core subjects in the ultra-Orthodox school system, the Knesset Finance Committee is slated to vote Tuesday on allocating an additional NIS 200 million ($65.5 million) for Haredi schools.

The vast majority of Haredi schoolchildren attend private schools that receive at least partial funding from the state. As of the 2024–2025 school year, only around seven percent of Haredi students were enrolled in public Haredi schools, known by their Hebrew acronym MaMaH.

These private schools fall into several categories.

“Exempt” institutions receive about 55% of the funding allocated to state schools, provided they teach 55% of the core curriculum.

A second category, “recognized but unofficial” institutions — known by the Hebrew acronym Mokshar — commit to teaching 75% of the curriculum and receive 75% of the funding.

Finally, “network” schools are affiliated with one of two major ultra-Orthodox political parties: Bnei Yosef, aligned with the Sephardic Shas party, and Chinuch Atzma’i, associated with the........

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