Rights8/14/2026

Attorney General: Funding for Haredi Schools Will Be Conditional on the Core Curriculum

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara informed the High Court of Justice that, beginning this year, continued funding for the Haredi education networks will depend on compliance with the basic requirements. Chief among them is teaching the full core curriculum.

Key facts

•Court: High Court of Justice — Bagatz
•Petitioner: the Hiddush movement
•Amount of funding in dispute: approximately one billion shekels a year
•Programs: “Ofek Hadash” and “Gefen”
•Legal basis: Budget Foundations Law
•The case number and date of the decision are not stated in the source

How the Dispute Arose

The Hiddush movement filed a petition against transferring funds under the “Ofek Hadash” and “Gefen” programs to the Independent Education and Ma'ayan HaHinuch HaTorani networks. The amount is approximately one billion shekels a year, which the government intended to transfer to the networks even though their institutions do not teach the full core curriculum. The High Court of Justice has already issued an order freezing the transfers.

What Conditions the State Set

According to the Attorney General's position, funding will be conditional not only on teaching the core curriculum. The institutions will be required to employ teaching staff with appropriate training, participate fully in measurement and evaluation procedures, cooperate with oversight and enforcement mechanisms, and fulfill their reporting obligations. The state's representatives before the High Court of Justice pointed to the need for up-to-date and effective oversight of every institution.

What the Ministry of Education Found

According to Ministry of Education data, the networks' institutions fall considerably short of the requirements for teaching the full core curriculum, and existing oversight is inadequate. A significant proportion of teachers of core subjects do not meet the education and professional training requirements; in about one-third of the institutions, not even one teacher of these subjects has received the required training. In addition, in practice, the ministry allowed the institutions to teach not the entire reduced core curriculum, but at least 75% of it.

The Legal Basis and Status of the Proceedings

The state's response noted that the petition concerns the networks' special status under the Budget Foundations Law. The law provides for their full funding, as with “all children of Israel,” even though schools belonging to the networks are classified as recognized but unofficial institutions, which under the law are generally entitled to funding at a rate of 75%. The High Court of Justice's final decision on the petition is not stated in the source: it reports the Attorney General's position and the order currently in effect freezing the funds.

What this means for you

For the families and employees of the schools concerned, this means that receiving government funding may depend on actually teaching the core curriculum, the qualifications of the teaching staff, and cooperation with oversight bodies. However, the dispute has not yet ended: the source does not report a final decision by the High Court of Justice, and the transfer of the disputed funds is frozen for the time being.

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