Dormitory decree: Lieberman refused to compromise to postpone until Passover - and the High Court will issue a ruling

December 27, 2021   

Today (Monday), in the afternoon, another hearing was held in the High Court of Justice regarding the Daycare Centers case, filed by the Emet LeYaakov organization and other parties, through attorney Zalman Black, against Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman's decision to cut and cancel the daycare subsidy for preschool children. About a month and a half ago, the High Court heard two petitions that were filed following the decision. During the hearing, Justices Fogelman, Stein, and Grosskopf wondered why the decision was made after the start of the school year and so quickly, which does not allow parents to organize themselves in other alternatives or prepare accordingly. At that hearing, the High Court asked the state to provide an answer to the question of why the planned cut should not be postponed to the next school year. The state submitted to the court its detailed response, spanning 70 pages, in which it announced the postponement of the implementation of the decision until this coming January, and claimed that there was no need for another postponement and that the decision should be implemented. As a result, another hearing was held today. During the hearing, after consultations held by the judges, it was proposed that the parties agree to a compromise, in which the cut would be postponed until the upcoming Passover vacation, and would begin on April 13, 2022 - a postponement of four additional months that would allow thousands of families to properly prepare for the cut. State representatives went to hold consultations with the ministers, at the end of which they returned and announced that Finance Minister Lieberman opposed the compromise. Following this, the judges are expected to publish their decision on the petition as soon as possible. It is worth noting that another petition is being conducted at the same time, also submitted by the organization 'Truth for Yaakov', against the discriminatory criteria set for rabbinical and jurisprudential students, relative to any other student, and which require these students to prove that they have already successfully passed one test in order to be eligible for funding for the dormitories. Attorney Zalman Black, representing the organization 'Truth for Yaakov', tells Haredim 10: "As we have believed all along, the High Court judges already ruled in the previous hearing on the illogicality of implementing the cut immediately and without giving tens of thousands of families the opportunity to prepare as required, and this time too they recommended that the state postpone the move for several additional months. I hope that the High Court's decision will also reflect this spirit." Attorneys Shmuel Maklev, Uriel Stern and Jonathan Feldman, representing a group of petitioners, said: "The court listened to our arguments regarding the flaws in the decision with great attention, and we hope that a decision will be made as soon as possible to postpone the cancellation of the subsidy for boarding schools for Avrehim children, at least for the next school year.".