Israeli Education Ministry Freezes Allowances for Over 90,000 Yeshiva Students After Supreme Court Ruling

The Israeli Ministry of Education has frozen allowance payments to more than 90,000 yeshiva students who are considered to be evading military or national service, following a Supreme Court ruling. This was revealed on Wednesday during a Finance Committee meeting discussing the transfer of a 4.4 billion shekel budget surplus from 2025 to 2026. The freeze affects roughly half of all yeshiva students, with nearly all unmarried yeshiva students and an increasing number of married yeshiva students (avrechim) no longer receiving funding.

Last year, about 500 million shekels were frozen from the 1.8 billion shekel yeshiva budget due to evasion, and this year the frozen amount is estimated to reach 600 million shekels. The freeze initially applied to students aged 18 to 26 but has now expanded to include those up to age 29. The frozen funds represent about one-third of the total yeshiva budget because most frozen students attend larger yeshivas, which receive lower per-student funding compared to kollels (yeshivas for married men).

Ministry representatives explained that these frozen funds are "committed surpluses," meaning they were approved in the 2025 state budget and the Ministry is obligated to execute them. Payments, including teacher salaries, were made in 2026 before the Finance Committee approved the surplus transfer, which the Ministry justified legally based on prior budget approvals and contracts. Legal opinions on these transfers were presented during the 2025 budget discussions, so no new legal reviews were deemed necessary.

The disclosures followed opposition lawmakers’ questions, including from Orit Farkash-Hacohen, Vladimir Beliak, and Naor Shiri (Yesh Atid). Opposition members criticized a surge of over 30 budget requests submitted just after the Knesset dissolved, accusing the coalition of pushing through about 600 million shekels in funds for yeshivas and settlements without proper procedural standards. Beliak called the timing and volume of these requests unprecedented, while Farkash-Hacohen questioned the legality of such large financial moves after the Knesset’s dissolution, citing government legal counsel guidelines on restraint in outgoing parliaments.