Education Ministry reviews whether extra funding for religious schools is legal
Israel’s Education Ministry is examining whether the preferential budget treatment of state religious education is lawful, the State Prosecutor’s Office told the High Court of Justice. The review covers both dedicated funding items for the sector, such as rabbi hours, and budgeting formulas that can reward smaller classes created by gender separation.
The state said it needs another six months to complete the work, meaning the current funding imbalance will continue through the coming school year. The response was filed to petitions by the National Parents Leadership, the Manor Center, the Berl Katznelson Foundation, and MKs Vladimir Beliak and Gilad Kariv, who are represented by attorneys Asaf Ben Malach and Hagai Kalai.
The petitioners argue that state religious education receives blatant preferential treatment compared with general state schools and Arab state schools. In 2024, the Education Ministry spent an average of 48,000 shekels per state religious high school student, 26% more than the 38,300 shekels spent on a state-school student. The gap was almost unchanged from 2023, when it stood at 28%. The gap versus Arab schools was 37% in 2024, down from 39.5% in 2023 and 41.5% in 2022.
The petitions claim the discrimination works in two main ways, special allocations such as rabbi hours and budget formulas based on class size, school size, and weekly teaching hours. The state, in a filing by attorney Jonathan Berman, said the review has been underway for a year and must now be broader, including a mapping of all unique budget components and the educational and regulatory reasons behind them. Berman wrote that the issue had been handled “by patching over patching,” and that some earmarked funds were coalition funds. He said the guiding principle is preserving the unique character of state religious education without harming substantive equality among all state-school pupils. The state asked to update the court again on December 31, 2026, and said the matter could then be reviewed by the court before changes are implemented for 2027/28. For 2026/27, the current discriminatory funding will remain in place, with only natural growth added.
