Haredi Commentator: Daycare Law Is "Fake," Won't Put a Single Shekel in Young Families' Pockets

The daycare funding bill that passed its preliminary reading in the Knesset Wednesday by 44 votes to 37 is already being dismissed by one prominent Haredi commentator as a cynical election stunt with no real chance of becoming law.

Yishai Cohen, political analyst for the Haredi news site Kikar Hashabbat, told Channel 12's morning news program Thursday that young Haredi men will not see a single shekel from the legislation, for two reasons.

First, the timeline. With the coalition having announced that a Knesset dissolution bill is expected to pass next week, there is simply no time left to bring the daycare bill through its second and third readings before the government falls.

Second, even if it somehow cleared that hurdle, Cohen argued the Supreme Court would block it immediately. He pointed to the court's consistent position that it will not allow funds to flow to draft-age men as long as there is no law formally regulating their status.

Cohen was equally blunt about what he sees as the bill's real purpose: positioning ahead of elections. "The Haredi factions will tell their voters they looked after young Haredi families," he said. "Smotrich will tell his voters he refused to support the bill as long as there is no Haredi conscription. And Ben Gvir will turn to young Haredi voters and explain that he, unlike Smotrich, voted in favor."

The bill itself would determine daycare admission priority and state tuition subsidies based solely on the mother's employment or study status. Religious Zionism members were absent from the vote, while Otzma Yehudit members showed up and voted in favor alongside the Haredi factions.

"The only result of this law," Cohen concluded, "is more criticism and incitement against the Haredi public, from a bill that young Haredi families won't benefit from for even a single day."