The High Court of Justice criticized on Tuesday the government's decision to continue paying stipends to yeshiva students who don't work, despite the High Court verdict a year and a half ago that such payments are illegal. Responding to an appeal made by the Student Union, the Hiddush organization and the Reform movement's Israel Religious Action Center, the government stated that its decision to continue paying stipends to yeshiva students is intended as a platform to integrate them into society and include them in the workforce. High Court Vice President Justice Miriam Naor disputed the claim, asking "How does giving a person money bring them closer to entering the job market? Logic dictates that if you don't give someone money, they will have to work." Chani Ofek, a government representative, said in response, "The current decree states that money is given only for a short time period, and that recipients will receive less after four years. We view these years as a transition period." In June 2010, after a number of debates, the High Court ruled that payments made to yeshiva students were illegal because they discriminated against the rest of Israeli society. The government decision states that yeshiva students will continue to receive payments, but claims that in the fifth year they will get only 75 percent of their monthly stipend. Yeshiva students do not receive stipends if they work, but the government now says they will allow students to work alongside part-time studies. After the fifth year, the stipends end. However, the aforementioned restrictions do not apply to students above the age of 29, which represent 80% of the recipients today. This arrangement was not drafted in the Knesset, but was implemented following a government decree. The appealing parties, represented by lawyers Einat Horowitz, Gilad Barnea and Orli Erez-Lachovisky, claim that "in effect there has been no change whatsoever in integrating yeshiva students in the workforce, and [the government's decision] is the same song in a different key, already deemed illegal by the High Court." Meanwhile, the High Court of Justice will convene Thursday to discuss an appeal submitted by the Awakening movement and the Israeli Forum for Citizen Equal Rights and Obligations, following Defense Minister Ehud Barak's alleged failure to abide by the mandatory conscription law despite the court's ruling that "an appropriate solution must be found to draft yeshiva students according to the law, within the given time frame." The petitioners, represented by attorney Yehuda Ressler, seek a temporary injunction to prevent, in their words, the defense minister's neglectful position to uphold the draft freeze for yeshiva students. According to Ressler, "The State of Israel, under Defense Ministry authorization, continues to cheapen [the rights of] the secular and Zionist public, taxpayers and those who do reserve duty.
We the petitioners expect the court to express a clear position regarding [Barak's] conduct, which disgraces the laws of the state, and demand military enlistment by legal decree for haredi youths, who continue to be exempt under the umbrella of the unlawful arrangement of "Torah study as their profession." Zahara Berger Tzur, director of the Israeli Forum for Citizen Equal Rights and Obligations, said, "The defense minister is knowingly misleading the public regarding his insistence on 'drafting' the haredim, specifically through words and media headlines.
We believe that the High Court of Justice will denounce his behavior and obligate him to take action rather than talk."
