Leaks from the coalition agreement signed last week between Likud and United Torah Judaism, which has yet to be officially publicized, attest to an unprecedented achievement by UTJ of recognition of the ultra-Orthodox education systems – both in budgetary and legal terms. In effect, UTJ demanded, and apparently received, complete equality between the Haredi and state education systems, although the Haredim do not teach the core curriculum and administer the mandatory exams, are not subject to supervision, offer no formal teacher training and, of course, discriminate between students. If Likud really did approve their demands, it means that a large percentage of Israel’s official educational requirements will be emptied of content.
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“Forget about the money,” said Piron. “The serious problem with the coalition agreement is bringing about a cultural change in the State of Israel by means of a political agreement – a change in conversion, burial, marriage, the status of the religious courts, the status of the Haredi schools. By means of a political situation they are changing the face of the nation. I think that in two to three years the Haredi community will realize the extent of the mistake it is now making: This is an exaggerated, almost swinish list of demands, which undermines the Jewish identity of the State of Israel and will therefore cause the secular community to rise up against it. What’s more, all the positive processes that have begun in the Haredi community will be nipped in the bud.”
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An additional demand that was accepted is to require local authorities to carry out construction in ultra-Orthodox schools at their expense (the “Nahari Law”) – once again this overturns the distinction between an official and an unofficial school. Another demand is to resume payment of a guaranteed income to yeshiva students, although the High Court of Justice ruled that this is discrimination since college and university students are not eligible for similar support.
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The agreement apparently also includes renewed funding for Haredim from abroad studying in Israeli yeshivas. Piron says this is absurd, because the Haredim have begun to bring yeshiva students from abroad to Israel, with full government financing, under the conditions of the Taglit-Birthright project. This amounts to an annual budget of 100 million shekels ($27.5 million), a third of which goes to one yeshiva, the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem.