Tel Aviv Funds Religious Services in Ultra-Orthodox Cities Despite Large Budget Surpluses
In June, the Knesset Finance Committee approved a decision to transfer 36 million shekels from financially strong, mostly secular cities to support religious services in weaker municipalities, including ultra-Orthodox and mixed cities. However, it has emerged that some recipient localities, such as Bnei Brak, hold substantial budget surpluses, with Bnei Brak alone having a surplus of 28 million shekels.
The state funding system for local authorities generally requires a 25% matching contribution from municipalities, but religious councils receive only 40% from the Ministry of Religious Services and must cover 60% themselves. A 2008 law, introduced by former Minister Itzik Cohen from Shas, intensified this by varying local contributions between 25% for weaker municipalities and up to 75% for stronger ones. This means residents of secular cities like Tel Aviv and Herzliya effectively subsidize religious services in ultra-Orthodox cities such as Bnei Brak and Beit Shemesh.
The Finance Committee annually sets the criteria for each locality’s share of the religious councils’ budget. On June 15, 2024, it approved a revision that shifted an additional 36 million shekels from strong to weak municipalities, despite objections from the Local Government Center representative Hila Zahavi Hadar, who called the system "sick" and demanded local authorities contribute only 25%.
An investigation by the Israel Free Movement NGO revealed that many religious councils in weaker municipalities continue to accumulate large surpluses, even as they receive increased funding. For example, Jerusalem holds a 16 million shekel surplus, Beit Shemesh 10 million, and Tiberias 5 million. This raises questions about why secular city residents should finance religious services in these areas. Following the Finance Committee’s decision, Bnei Brak will pay 1.7% less of its budget, Jerusalem 0.9% less, and Beit Shemesh 1.6% less, with the difference funded by other cities.
Uri Kedar, CEO of Israel Free Movement, criticized the government for forcing the public to finance unwanted religious services and called for dismantling the religious councils, suggesting that future governments provide religious services through municipal departments without political party influence.
The Ministry of Religious Services responded that religious councils lack dedicated development budgets, and surpluses often represent committed funds or accounting entries rather than liquid cash. According to 2022 guidelines, these surpluses are used responsibly for long-term projects benefiting religious services, not as excess money.
