Goldknopf Threatens to Back Knesset Dissolution Over Daycare Subsidy Bill

United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yitzhak Goldknopf said his faction will demand a vote on dissolving the Knesset this Wednesday. He said his party has lost trust in the government and is done with, as he put it, “tricks and gimmicks” meant only to create headlines and spin. Goldknopf added that, “As the great rabbis instructed us, we will insist on bringing the bill to dissolve the Knesset already on Wednesday.”

Earlier on Monday, Shas and United Torah Judaism told the coalition whip that they would not support coalition legislation in the plenum because the daycare bill was not placed on the agenda. In a joint statement, they said they had informed the whip that, since the daycare bill was not being brought forward, they would not vote for coalition bills in the Knesset plenum that day.

As a result, the coalition removed the bills that were due to come to a vote. The daycare bill is meant to circumvent the impact of a High Court ruling that froze state subsidies for daycare centers for families of yeshiva students. After the ruling, the state was barred from continuing to subsidize daycare places for children of yeshiva students whose religious study status is the reason they do not enlist.

About a year and a half ago, MK Yisrael Eichler submitted a bill saying eligibility for the subsidy would be based only on the mother’s status. The practical goal is to disconnect the benefit from the father’s military status and allow continued assistance, which can amount to thousands of shekels a month per child.