Scandal: While the Haredim Suffer Under the Sanctions, Smotrich Will Transfer Billions to His Supporters, and Where Are the MKs?

Investigative reporting by Kikar HaShabbat reveals that the finance minister has taken care only of the religious Zionist sector, with even Haredi communities in Judea and Samaria excluded from the benefits. And our representatives? They keep silent.

As yeshiva students and kollel scholars continue to absorb one decree after another, face a dead end on funding, and struggle to make ends meet amid the loss of daycare subsidies, it turns out the state treasury is wide open, but only for one sector.

An in-depth look at the 2026 budget data reveals a generous and wide-open purse. In total, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has directed 3.5 billion shekels to Judea and Samaria and to institutions of the religious Zionist sector. Here is a partial list of the spoils, as reflected in the Finance Ministry data:

1.075 billion shekels for roads and infrastructure in Judea and Samaria 500 million shekels to strengthen security components in Judea and Samaria 280 million shekels for preserving antiquities in Judea and Samaria and establishing a local antiquities authority About 150 million shekels to support Torah institutions and boarding schools of the religious Zionist sector 130 million shekels for far-reaching tax benefits in Judea and Samaria 120 million shekels in a special government decision for the “hilltop youth” 112 million shekels for planning new communities in Judea and Samaria 100 million shekels for increases in coalition funds in Judea and Samaria through the Interior Ministry 80 million shekels for security components and safeguarding Area C

And if that is not enough, the government is expected today, Thursday, to allocate another 1 billion shekels for developing new communities in Judea and Samaria and establishing temporary sites. A celebration of billions.

The absurdity is that even in Judea and Samaria, the Haredim are left out. The most striking and infuriating point in the data is the huge gap between the treatment of the religious Zionist cities in Judea and Samaria and the treatment of the Haredi cities and communities in the very same area. Beitar Illit, Modiin Illit and Emmanuel were all excluded from the benefits. It turns out that even when Smotrich opens the public purse to settlements by hundreds of millions of shekels, he carefully makes sure to leave the Haredi public out and deny it the benefits. He looks after the interests of his own sector בלבד, while the Haredim, including those living מעבר לקו הירוק and suffering the same security threats, are left behind.

The chairman of United Torah Judaism, MK Yitzhak Goldknopf, sent a harsh letter today to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following a government decision that completely ignores the Haredi public in Judea and Samaria. “Out of about half a million residents of Judea and Samaria, close to 200,000 are Haredim,” Goldknopf wrote. “The Haredi public makes up almost half of the entire population in the area, and the cities of Modiin Illit and Beitar Illit are the largest urban centers in Judea and Samaria.”

But the real shock comes from another part of the government decisions, “strengthening informal education.” Behind that wording is an infuriating decision intended to channel enormous sums and raise the per-student allocation only for the religious Zionist sector. The decision explicitly calls for strengthening “informal education institutions,” meaning hesder yeshivas and religious Zionist boarding schools. While hesder yeshivas receive a significant increase in the per-student allocation, the holy yeshivas are left behind. Until now, Haredi representatives fought to prevent discrimination between hesder yeshivas and holy yeshivas, but it appears the dam has broken.

“It is a slap in the face of the world of Torah by its supposedly natural partners, the Religious Zionist Party and, בראשם, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich,” senior United Torah Judaism figures told Kikar HaShabbat. “While yeshiva students and kollel scholars absorb one decree after another, it turns out the state treasury is wide open, but only for one sector.”

Given these monstrous figures, the question echoing through the Haredi street is where are our representatives? How can it be that a finance minister uses the public treasury as if it were his own, prioritizes one sector by billions and gives nothing to the Haredi public, while the Haredi parties remain silent? Instead of pounding on the table and issuing an ultimatum, Haredi politicians are treating Smotrich with inexplicable leniency. Every time they ask for a budget for education, housing or yeshivas, they get the same worn-out excuses about “wartime constraints,” “economic difficulties” and “legal counsel.” And the representatives? They nod in understanding and accept the excuses at face value. Meanwhile, under their noses, in that very same year, billions are flowing to hesder yeshivas, outposts and religious Zionist institutions.

A senior United Torah Judaism figure was furious at the MKs who sit quietly and do not fight, but mainly blamed MK Yaakov Asher for not standing guard.

A source in the Shas party said today to Kikar HaShabbat: “It is time for the Haredi representation to wake up and stop being the coalition’s punching bag. The data speak for themselves, there is money, a lot of it. It simply goes to those who know how to demand it. The question is how long the Haredi public will continue to pay the price of this silence.”