In a statement to the media, the prime minister addressed the issue of inflated coalition funds that were barely cut during the war in the revised state budget for 2023. Netanyahu was asked by Kan 11 correspondent Liel Kaiser about the issue of allowances, but instead answered about the salary increases for ultra-Orthodox teachers as part of the New Horizon program. So not only did the prime minister not answer the question, but he was also not accurate in the data.
Netanyahu tried to lower the flames over his uncomfortable discourse on coalition finances, accusing those involved in it of "baseless hatred." "This whole discussion is rife with populism and unfounded hatred. We have now approved a budget for a month and a half until the end of the year of NIS 30 billion, which meets the security needs, the civilian needs. I did not approve cuts in the budget of theaters, just as I did not approve cuts in other budgets," the prime minister declared.
What was Netanyahu asked about?
One of the most prominent items in the coalition funds is the NIS 1.089 billion defined as the "growth budget for religious institutions (yeshivas)." This item increases the yeshiva budget to NIS 1.75 billion a year – an increase of half a billion shekels compared to last year, which will catapult the allowances of the rabbis to an all-time high. This is a population that mostly does not serve in the army.
Netanyahu. Continuing politics, photo: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO
Where is the prime minister not accurate?
"In the cabinet meeting, we discussed for an hour a new horizon – a budget for ultra-Orthodox education that gives NIS 30 million to teachers who receive starvation wages, and these are teachers who teach both in Sderot and Ofakim and the Gaza envelope. NIS 30 million out of NIS 30 billion. It's not 10%, it's not 1%, it's one thousandth. A full hour. Because it's ultra-Orthodox. So an ultra-Orthodox teacher is not a teacher, an ultra-Orthodox child is half a child?! He's not half a child, and she's not half a teacher. These are human beings, these are our brothers and sisters. A few days ago, I sat down with ZAKA people, whose budget is also part of this budget. They told me what they saw near Gaza. What happens to us? What is this populist debate No one will lack money, but this is not the time for baseless hatred, this is the time to join forces and stop this division."
Fact checking
The cost of the New Horizon program this year will indeed be "only" NIS 35 million, because they have not been able to fully integrate Haredi teachers into the program, and therefore this year they will be paid only advances. Next year, the gap between NIS 177 million and NIS 35 million will be completed, meaning that an additional NIS 142 million will be transferred. In total, the cost of applying the New Horizon program to the ultra-Orthodox sector will be NIS 880 million in 2023-2024, not NIS 30 million. This is public money that will be transferred to educational institutions, some of which do not teach core curriculum and will not be properly supervised as there is in state education.
Does Netanyahu not understand the importance of integrating the ultra-Orthodox population into the labor market?
After all, this is a population that is growing rapidly, and according to forecasts, 40 years from now every third citizen of Israel will be ultra-Orthodox. If the employment situation of this sector remains as it is today, it will be necessary to raise taxes dramatically—these are the forecasts of Bank of Israel and Ministry of Finance economists.
Netanyahu knows the forecasts well, perhaps better than the top economists in the economy. As finance minister, he dramatically cut child allowances and was behind the ultra-Orthodox going out to work. What's changed now? Coalition funds for the ultra-Orthodox sector are the glue of the current coalition.
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