Israeli State Grants Ultra-Orthodox Families Up to Seven Times More Welfare Discounts Than Non-Haredi Jews

A 2022 Treasury Budget Department report reveals stark disparities in welfare discounts across Israeli social sectors, highlighting significant preferential treatment for ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) families. Haredi households have a 64% chance of receiving discounted after-school care through the Nitzanim program, seven times higher than the 9% chance for non-Haredi Jewish families. Similarly, 28% of Haredi families receive daycare discounts, compared to just 4% of non-Haredi Jewish households, also a sevenfold difference. Property tax (Arnona) discounts are granted to 72% of Haredi families, over four times the 17% rate among non-Haredi Jews, making it unusual for a Haredi household not to benefit. Public transportation discounts are even more skewed, with 95% of Haredi families receiving them versus only 23% of non-Haredi Jewish families.

These figures were presented by Treasury representative Rom Bar-Av during a May 15 discussion led by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on implementing a Supreme Court ruling regarding yeshiva student conscription. The Attorney General is consolidating efforts on sanctions and arrests against draft evasion, as the government resists enforcing conscription. The data underscores how Israel’s welfare system has been tailored over years to the Haredi family model, channeling funds from the working population to large, low-income Haredi households. This is achieved by basing eligibility on per capita income without considering work capacity, effectively enabling welfare abuse by those choosing poverty and dependency.

Since the outbreak of the current conflict, some key benefits like daycare discounts and subsidized housing programs have been suspended for draft evaders, contributing to a reported 53% rise in Haredi enlistment projections for 2025, reaching 4,300 recruits despite rabbinic bans. The report argues for comprehensive reform of welfare and education benefits, requiring at least one and a half jobs per couple to qualify, calculating income per standardized family member, and denying benefits to draft evaders and deserters. Such changes aim to end state-funded draft and work evasion and encourage Haredi integration into the military and labor market.