After the division of roles in the next government has been settled, the negotiating teams of the Haredi parties and the Likud are trying to resolve the disputes over the value issues.
At the center of the discussions: a budget increase for Haredi education and the conscription law.
The Haredi asked the Likud to know in which version the conscription law would be passed: While the Haredi parties are demanding a law that will not define conscription targets, the Likud wanted the moderate version that was promoted during the Netanyahu-Gantz government.
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According to a report on Channel 12, in a lengthy meeting held by the teams today, the Likud agreed to enact the "Basic Law: Torah Study." The law will legally allow the exemption for yeshiva students to be protected, as it has the status of a basic law. This is a proposal previously raised by Attorney Yaakov Weinroth, the late, and is now being promoted.
The second issue is the budget issue: the Haredi have demanded between 4 and 6 billion shekels for Haredi education. The agreement today is that the budget transfer will be made in two installments. The first installment, which will probably be 3 billion shekels, will be anchored in the budget for 2023. The second installment will be 2 billion shekels and is expected to be included in the next budget that the government passes.
The Haredi parties demanded in the negotiations that the yeshivas' budget be doubled to 2.5 billion shekels. However, it is likely that it will ultimately amount to less than 2 billion shekels.
The increase in the yeshiva budget is based on the economic situation in the economy – the erosion of money and the increase in the minimum wage.
Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri is expected to take over as Finance Minister during the second half of the government's term, replacing Bezalel Smotrich.
However, during the first half of his term as Minister of the Interior and Health, he does not wish to be at Smotrich's mercy. His demand in the negotiations, which was apparently granted, is that the Ministries of the Interior and Health enjoy budgetary independence from the start, and that the increase they will receive will be agreed upon in the coalition agreement.
According to the report on Channel 12, the person who gave Deri the offer was Moshe Bar Siman Tov, who also advises him on studying the health system, and may even return to serve as Director General of the Ministry of Health.
