Ultra-Orthodox Parties Suffer Setback as Daycare Subsidy Bill Is Shelved

Ultra-Orthodox factions suffered another political blow on Tuesday when the daycare subsidy bill was not placed on the Knesset agenda, and appears unlikely to advance at all. Coalition chairman’s office told ultra-Orthodox lawmakers there is no majority for the measure, apparently because of opposition from lawmakers in Likud, Religious Zionism and New Hope.

The bill was meant to bypass the High Court of Justice ruling and the attorney general’s directive that ended daycare subsidies for families of draft dodgers. For the ultra-Orthodox parties, it is a critical issue because losing the subsidy has caused severe financial harm to thousands of families in their community.

On Monday, the ultra-Orthodox MKs announced a voting rebellion in the plenum. In a joint statement, they said that because the daycare bill was not being brought forward, “we will not vote today in favor of coalition legislation in the Knesset plenum.” Their move led to all coalition bills being removed from the agenda, and the plenum agenda remained empty on Tuesday as well.

The ultra-Orthodox parties tried to escalate further on Tuesday, saying they would vote against budget transfers in the Finance Committee, but the coalition was unmoved and reminded them of the numbers and the risk of humiliation in the plenum. They are now focusing on advancing a Basic Law on Torah study, which has already been stripped down at the demand of Religious Zionism and turned into a declarative bill, and on a temporary order that would delay arrests of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders for one year, though it is unclear whether either initiative has a majority.