After the division of roles in the next government was settled, the negotiation teams of the ultra-Orthodox parties and the Likud are trying to break down the disputes on the value issues.
In the focus of the discussions: a budget supplement for ultra-orthodox education and the conscription law.
The ultra-orthodox asked the Likud to know which version of the conscription law would pass: while the ultra-orthodox parties demand a law that does not define conscription targets, the Likud wanted the moderate version that was promoted during the Netanyahu-Ganz government.
According to a report in News 12, in a long meeting held today by the teams, the Likud agreed to enact the “Fundamental Law: Torah Study”. The law will legally allow the exemption for yeshiva students to be protected, as it has the status of a fundamental law. This is a proposal previously put forward by the late Yaakov Weinroth, and now it is promoted.
The second issue is the issue of budgets: the ultra-Orthodox demanded between NIS 4 and 6 billion for ultra-Orthodox education. The agreement today is that the transfer of the budgets will be carried out in two steps. The first pulse, which will probably amount to NIS 3 billion, will be anchored in the budget for 2023. The second pulse will amount to NIS 2 billion and is expected to be included in the next budget that the government will pass.
The ultra-orthodox parties demanded in the negotiations that the yeshiva budget be doubled to NIS 2.5 billion. However, it is likely that it will ultimately amount to less than NIS 2 billion.
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 enter the position of Minister of Finance during the second half of the government’s term, replacing Bezalel Smotrich.
However, during the first half, in which he will serve as Minister of the Interior and Health, he does not wish to be at the mercy of Smotrich. His demand in the negotiations, which was apparently met, is that the Ministries of the Interior and Health enjoy budgetary independence from the beginning and the coalition agreement will agree on what the supplement they will receive will be.
According to the report in News 12, the person who gave Derai the offer is Moshe Bar Siman Tov, who also advises him in studying the health system, and may even return to serve as the director general of the Ministry of Health.