Opposition Vote Blocks Safe New Building for 120 Yavne Students

A political fight in Yavne has left 120 students at the Orthodox Talmud Torah Or David still learning in temporary classrooms without a protected shelter for emergencies. Last week, nine opposition council members defeated a proposal from Mayor Roi Gabai to open a 1 million-shekel special budget line for planning the demolition and rebuilding of a permanent, fortified school building.

The project had already received formal recognition and a program approval from Israel’s Education Ministry, but the vote stopped it from moving forward. As a result, the children remain in portable structures under difficult conditions, and when sirens sound they and their teachers must run outside to find shelter.

Parents condemned the decision in harsh terms, saying, "Our children's lives have become a tool in an ugly political game that is crushing their personal safety." They added, "This is an unimaginable reality in 2026. How can elected officials stand by with zero compassion and allow this to continue just because they are חרדים children?" The school is described as a Sephardi institution established at the instruction of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.

Benyamin Asher, a city council member and the official in charge of ultra-Orthodox youth affairs, called the move "a scandal" and said, "Not everything is political, educational institutions and children's safety come before everything." He said Shas, led in the city by Deputy Mayor Rafi "Pali" Cohen, together with council member Yehuda Danino, will keep fighting for the students. City officials say the budget was only for planning and would have returned to the municipal coffers after that stage, which is why they view the opposition's decision as especially puzzling. Gabai, elected mayor in 2019 with 51% of the vote, had promised to take Yavne in a new direction.