The heads of two major religious-Zionist school networks have drawn up a sweeping list of demands for the next government’s coalition agreements, including a dedicated deputy education minister, veto power over curricula and budget increases worth hundreds of millions of shekels a year, TheMarker reported Monday.
The document, titled “Program to Strengthen State-Religious Education in Israel,” was submitted to senior figures in the religious parties ahead of possible coalition negotiations. According to TheMarker’s Lior Datel, it is being driven by Elchanan Glatt, director-general of the Bnei Akiva yeshiva network, and Yanki Friedman, director-general of the Noam-Tzviya network.
The format echoes the coalition demands chareidi parties have made in past governments. The networks’ aim is to secure religious-Zionist control over key centers of power in the Education Ministry.
A deputy minister and veto power
At the top of the list is a deputy education minister dedicated to state-religious education. The networks also want the head of state-religious education, which would remain part of the public system, promoted to deputy director-general of the ministry and given veto power over curricula, educational policy, pedagogy and teacher appointments. They are also asking for a dedicated legal adviser and permanent religious representatives in each of the ministry’s main divisions.
In effect, the networks are seeking the kind of autonomy enjoyed by independent chareidi education, while keeping their status as public schools with full state funding.
More hours, more money
The document calls for funding for religious studies and Torah programs to be built into the ministry’s permanent base budget rather than depending on coalition funds. Among the demands:
- Two additional weekly hours per class, from first through 12th grade, for prayer and religious studies
- A mandatory “halacha and mitzvot” track from seventh grade
- 6,000 hours of Torah enrichment a year
- 500 additional national service positions
- More funding for small institutions, yeshiva high schools and ulpanot, along with building, renovation and transportation budgets
- A support fund of NIS 1–10 million per network
The networks also want tenders to run state-religious schools limited to religious-Zionist bodies that have at least 75% of their institutions in the state-religious system, with the state-religious administration holding a veto over the choice of operator. They are also calling for registration zones to be opened up so parents can send their children to schools matching their worldview.
Existing funding gap
The demands come despite existing gaps in favor of religious education. According to Education Ministry figures, a student in state-religious education already receives about NIS 10,000 more per year than a student in secular state schools.
Itamar Kramer, head of the State Education Watch, criticized the demands but said he does not want to cut religious education’s budget. The goal, he said, should be “not to take a shekel from religious education, but to equalize conditions upward.”
