Budget for Dropout Yeshivas Surges Despite Israeli Supreme Court Ruling

In July 2025, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that funding must cease for yeshivas attended by military service-eligible youths who have not regularized their status with the IDF, including dropout yeshivas for at-risk youth. This decision came after a petition by the organization Israel Hofshit. However, contrary to the ruling's intent, the overall budget allocated to these institutions has increased significantly.

Data for 2025 and 2026 show a sharp rise in funding for dropout yeshivas (yeshivot noharim). From January to April 2025, the Ministry of Welfare allocated 9.9 million shekels for 510 youths. In the same period in 2026, the budget jumped by about 40% to 13.6 million shekels, citing tariff updates and coverage of past debts. This increase is puzzling given conflicting reports on the actual number of students: in March 2026, the ministry reported a reduction of over half to approximately 203 youths, but later stated the decrease was only about one-third.

Dropout yeshivas serve youths who struggled in regular yeshiva frameworks, offering vocational training, social activities, close guidance, and Torah study. Uri Kedar, CEO of Israel Hofshit, condemned the continued funding as "a mechanism of fraud mistakenly called dropout yeshivas," demanding the cessation of payments and the return of funds transferred after the court ruling.

The Ministry of Welfare and Social Security responded that it fully complies with the Supreme Court ruling and does not fund boarding schools for military service-eligible youths. It explained the nominal budget increase results from tariff adjustments for placements of youths not subject to military service and that placements in these institutions decreased by about one-third between 2025 and 2026. Additionally, part of the 2026 funds compensated for payments delayed in 2025 for various reasons.