Israeli Supreme Court temporarily blocks billions in funding to Orthodox schools

The Supreme Court of Israel issued a provisional order Wednesday evening halting the transfer of over one billion shekels earmarked for Orthodox educational institutions. 

The move follows an appeal by members of the centrist Yesh Atid party, led by opposition leader Yair Lapid.

The petition, filed Tuesday, challenges the legality of directing public funds to schools that, according to the complainants, lack adequate pedagogical oversight and fail to teach core subjects such as math, English, and science. 

Lawmakers Vladimir Beliak, Moshe Tur-Paz, and Naor Shiri argue that these transfers undermine principles of transparency and equality.

Central to the dispute is the repeated use of a mid-year budget transfer mechanism, originally intended for occasional adjustments, which the plaintiffs say has been used to channel large coalition funds not approved in the original Knesset budget. 

They claim the Finance Committee exploited its authority to bypass legal limits and submitted transfer requests with insufficient detail, effectively preventing meaningful parliamentary oversight and debate.

The Supreme Court’s provisional order temporarily blocks the funding until the case is fully reviewed. The decision is likely to have significant political implications, affecting coalition stability and fueling ongoing debates in Israel over public funding for ultra-Orthodox schools and the inclusion of core curriculum subjects.