Ultra-Orthodox Parties Threaten Coalition Over Delayed Childcare Subsidy Bill

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing fresh pressure from the ultra-Orthodox parties over the coalition’s legislative agenda. On Monday, the day Knesset coalition bills are scheduled for votes, the ultra-Orthodox factions were shocked to learn that the government wants to remove the so-called daycare bill from the agenda.

The bill is meant to bypass sanctions imposed by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on draft dodgers, sanctions that affect eligibility for subsidized places in supervised, discounted daycare centers. For the ultra-Orthodox, the bill has become a key target as they try to secure a last-minute achievement before the Knesset is dissolved.

Coalition officials oppose the measure because it would benefit ultra-Orthodox draft evaders and are trying to keep it off the floor. Yesh Atid? No, Torah Judaism’s Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni sent a message to coalition chairman Ofir Katz warning that if the daycare bill is not brought to a vote on Monday, the ultra-Orthodox parties will not support the coalition’s other bills, including Ariel Kallner’s proposal for a national inquiry committee, which is also due for first reading today.

The threat is significant because the Knesset has only a few days left, and the coalition wants to pass as many bills as possible before dissolution, especially first-reading bills that can still be continued in the next Knesset under legislative continuity. Bills that do not pass first reading would have to restart from scratch. In the meantime, no deal has been reached. Within Agudat Yisrael, the Hasidic faction of United Torah Judaism, lawmakers are mocking the Lithuanian camp and saying, “Netanyahu is laughing at Degel HaTorah.”