The High Court (Bagatz) on Thursday released all frozen funds for chareidi education that had been held up following a petition against transfers approved by the Knesset Finance Committee. The total sum is NIS 286 million earmarked for the Education Ministry for chareidi education, including funds designated for kindergarten teachers' salaries.
The decision is a win for MK Moshe Gafni and for Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afek, who assisted in advancing the move and defended the transfer of funds to chareidi education. The release of the budgets allows the transfers that were halted following court intervention to proceed, including the salary funds.
Behind the decision stand a conditional order and an interim order issued by Bagatz regarding the transfer of coalition funds. The court had demanded that the Finance Committee chairman and the Treasury explain why the transfers should not be canceled, and preventing their execution until the petition was decided.
The funds at the center of the proceedings were approved in a Knesset Finance Committee decision on 4 August 2026. The total sum is not a single budget transfer but comprises two separate transfers to the Education Ministry, both designated for chareidi education.
The main transfer stood at NIS 270 million and related to budget requests 151 through 153. Alongside it, an additional transfer of NIS 16 million was approved, relating to budget requests 101 through 106. Together, the two transfers reached a sum of NIS 286 million.
In their previous decision, the justices instructed the respondents "to come and give reason why the coalition funds transfer" approved by the committee should not be canceled. In other words, alongside freezing the funds, the responsible parties were required to present to the court their justification for keeping the transfers in place.
