Israeli Education Ministry urged to restore frozen yeshiva funding

The nonprofit organization "Truth for Jacob in Israel" sent a formal demand letter to Education Minister Yoav Kish, the Ministry of Finance, the State Comptroller and the Government Legal Advisor. The letter cites a Supreme Court ruling that halted support payments for more than 90,000 yeshiva students and abrekim, resulting in an estimated 600 million shekel freeze for the 2026 budget. The organization argues that the ministries incorrectly applied the "point value" reduction to all supported institutions, cutting the per‑student amount from 470 NIS in 2023 to 375 NIS now, a drop of about 20 %. It claims the total budget was not reduced by the court decision, so the point value should have risen to roughly 705 NIS. The group demands that the frozen funds be returned to the common pool and redistributed only to students whose military status is legally regular, and warns it will seek interim court orders and further legal action if the request is not met within 21 days.

The letter was issued through attorney Yehuda Abel and underscores the organization’s view that the current allocation constitutes a legal and fiscal distortion requiring immediate correction.