Israeli Education Ministry Finds Haredi Daycares Withheld Incentive Payments From Assistants

An official audit by Israel's Ministry of Education revealed that dozens of Haredi daycares failed to pass on government persistence grants to their assistants, instead retaining the funds within the daycare budgets. These grants, established under an agreement signed in August 2023, included a monthly payment of up to 600 shekels for assistants with perfect attendance and an annual bonus of 1,000 shekels for those with fewer than ten sick days. Despite the funds being allocated to the daycares specifically for these payments, some institutions did not distribute the money to the intended employees.

Following the findings, the state demanded the recovery of millions of shekels by deducting the amounts from the daycares' future budgets. However, Meir Shimoni, Director General of the Ministry of Education, requested reconsideration of the budget cuts to avoid disrupting daycare operations ahead of the new school year. This request was coordinated with professional bodies to maintain system continuity.

Meanwhile, the "Chalamesh" organization, representing dozens of daycares, clarified that its legal petition to the district court concerns budget cuts related only to "extended standards" funding, not the persistence grants. The organization stated that budget deductions have been applied broadly across all sectors, including WIZO and Naamat, not exclusively targeting the Haredi sector. They also claimed that over 90% of non-network daycares fully paid the grants with certified accountant verification, accusing the Finance Ministry of misrepresenting the situation and unfairly stigmatizing the Haredi community.