Remember back when the government set up a committe run by MK Plesner to formulate a replacement to the expired TAL law? Remember that the haredi parties refused to participate in the discussions and refused to cooperate in finding a solution? Remember how smug and happy the haredi MKs were when the committee fell apart and its decisions were ignored? They took as it as validation of their claims that the committee had no right to discuss the issue, that the committee was working on the basis of being anti-haredi rather than looking for an objectively good solution.
Look what it has led to. if they thought they averted the problem, it looks like all they did was cause themselves to head straight into a bigger problem. Recently the haredi MKs have been livid that the army is supposedly trying trick haredim into being drafted, by pressuring them to sign papers when they report to the draft board, by saying there is no more deferment .
And that was only the beginning. Kikar is now reporting that the government has just decided to freeze all budgets to the yeshivot. The avreichim in kollel are now, two weeks before the holidays, not receiving their stipends. Funding will not be forwarded until new criteria is set in place.
This might be resolved quickly, or it might take a long time. Either way the avreichim have the haredi MKS to thank as this is a direct result of the Haredi MKs refusing to allow an alternative law to replace the TAL law.
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I don't understand - the govt has the ability to withhold funding from yeshivot because some of their attendees are affected by the expired Tal law?
ReplyDeleteAnd doesn't it sound like the tactic worked - the Plesner committee didn't get to draw up a new arrangement, the yeshivot are being pushed to put something together.
it seems the rules of the funding stipulate that it goes to those legally exempted from the army or deferred by the TAL law. with the tal law expired, there is no legal structure by which to pass the funding.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually a general rule of government. The government cannot choose to simply send checks to people unless there is an approved law stating who, when, and how much must be send. In the USA, for example, when a budget cannot be passed (as often occurs), an "emergency resolution" has to be passed to allow funding to continue (usually using the previous budgets schedule).
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