The committee is headed by Labor-Meimad MK Michael Melchior, and includes MKs of the coalition Kadima and Labor parties, as well as Arab MKs. Non-member MK Nissan Slomiansky joined his party colleague - committee member Zevulun Orlev of the National Religious Party - at last night's special session at which the letter to the Prime and Finance Ministers was drafted.
Religious-Zionist yeshiva and ulpanah high schools struck on Sunday for one day in protest of the massive budget cuts in religious-Zionist education over the past four years. As a result of the closing of the Religious Affairs Ministry in 2002, the funding that had been funded via its offices simply got swallowed up somewhere in the Finance Ministry. This led to a drop of 130 million shekels, out of a total of some 285 million shekels, in the total budgeting.
Last year, with the help of then-Finance Minister Ehud Olmert and others, 47 million shekels were returned to the religious education budget. In this year's current budget proposal, however, this sum does not appear. Elchanan Glatt, head of the Religious Education Forum, says that some schools may be forced to close.
Despite the committee's letter to Olmert and Hirschsohn, it is not considered likely that the full sum will be restored.
Neighborhoods in Danger
Another casualty of the budget appears to be the long-running Israeli government program called "Neighborhood Rehabilitation" (Shikum Shchunot). At the behest of Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit, 65 out of 100 underprivileged neighborhoods will have their special funding cut.
Last night, in the last budget sessions before the Knesset is to vote on it, the Labor Party asked that 250 million shekels be restored to the 25-year-old Neighborhood Rehabilitation project. However, in the framework of the coalition parties' mutual rescinding of their special funding demands, this one, too, was withdrawn.
Among the neighborhoods that will lose their special funding are Patt, Katamon 8 and Katamon 9 in Jerusalem, Hatikvah and the Argazim in Tel Aviv, the Taanachim near Afula, and neighborhoods in Haifa, Shlomi, Bat Yam, Eilat, Be'er Sheva and more.
The Knesset Social Lobby convened this afternoon for an emergency session today to discuss the ramifications of the budget on national social issues. Former Bank of Israel Governor David Klein said that the government essentially does not have a clearly-defined national welfare strategy or program.
Religious-Zionist yeshiva and ulpanah high schools struck on Sunday for one day in protest of the massive budget cuts in religious-Zionist education over the past four years. As a result of the closing of the Religious Affairs Ministry in 2002, the funding that had been funded via its offices simply got swallowed up somewhere in the Finance Ministry. This led to a drop of 130 million shekels, out of a total of some 285 million shekels, in the total budgeting.
Last year, with the help of then-Finance Minister Ehud Olmert and others, 47 million shekels were returned to the religious education budget. In this year's current budget proposal, however, this sum does not appear. Elchanan Glatt, head of the Religious Education Forum, says that some schools may be forced to close.
Despite the committee's letter to Olmert and Hirschsohn, it is not considered likely that the full sum will be restored.
Neighborhoods in Danger
Another casualty of the budget appears to be the long-running Israeli government program called "Neighborhood Rehabilitation" (Shikum Shchunot). At the behest of Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit, 65 out of 100 underprivileged neighborhoods will have their special funding cut.
Last night, in the last budget sessions before the Knesset is to vote on it, the Labor Party asked that 250 million shekels be restored to the 25-year-old Neighborhood Rehabilitation project. However, in the framework of the coalition parties' mutual rescinding of their special funding demands, this one, too, was withdrawn.
Among the neighborhoods that will lose their special funding are Patt, Katamon 8 and Katamon 9 in Jerusalem, Hatikvah and the Argazim in Tel Aviv, the Taanachim near Afula, and neighborhoods in Haifa, Shlomi, Bat Yam, Eilat, Be'er Sheva and more.
The Knesset Social Lobby convened this afternoon for an emergency session today to discuss the ramifications of the budget on national social issues. Former Bank of Israel Governor David Klein said that the government essentially does not have a clearly-defined national welfare strategy or program.