The Supreme Court today unanimously dismissed a petition filed several months ago by the Students' Union, which sought to cancel funding for yeshiva students, including those who have not yet received conscription orders and are not of conscription age under the law.
The petition was dismissed due to defects in its filing, but Supreme Court President, Justice Yitzhak Amit, hinted to the petitioners that they may submit an amended petition.
The petitioners argued that yeshiva students are subject to discriminatory preferential treatment compared with students studying at institutions of higher education in Israel.
The petition asked the Supreme Court to order the cancellation of yeshiva funding for students who are not subject to conscription, claiming that scholarships to yeshiva students and avreichim are transferred to the institutions where they study, and that the subsidies effectively constitutes an "evasion" of the prohibition on funding yeshiva students who are subject to conscription.
In addition to seeking the cancellation of subsidies amounting to hundreds of millions of shekels transferred to religious institutions, the petitioners asked the Supreme Court to rule that the government must establish an oversight mechanism to ensure that funds to religious institutions are transferred. In the absence of such a mechanism, the petitioners sought an order preventing the transfer of funds to religious institutions.
Government representatives responded to the claims and clarified that support for religious institutions constitutes, "the implementation of the government's socio-economic policy that lies at the core of its authority and discretion." They added that support is provided according to criteria set out in the subsidy process and in accordance with the law. Regarding the alleged discrimination in relation to students, the government replied, "religious institutions and institutions of higher education do not belong to the same equality group."
Government representatives also clarified that the existing oversight conducted by the Ministry of Education is adequate and carried out in accordance with the law. They emphasized that religious institutions are permitted to distribute scholarships from government-supplied funds, as these are expenditures directly related to the operation of the institution, and that the transfer of scholarships should not be seen as an improper use.
The court justified its decision to dismiss the petition by stating that it, "suffers from a generality that does not allow for an efficient and proper examination of the claims and remedies contained within it."
The judges noted that the petition includes a long list of remedies that lack substantive connection, targeting various government ministries and state authorities, and that each remedy is based on different claims requiring a deep factual and legal infrastructure that is not present in the petition.
Justice Yitzhak Amit, who wrote the ruling, clearly hinted to the petitioners that despite the fact they filed a petition that is not properly formulated, he believes there is room to discuss parts of the petition. He advised the petitioners to submit a corrected petition and did not impose legal costs on them.
Amit wrote, "Our statements do not detract from the importance of some of the issues raised in the petition," and added that filing a new petition on the matter requires the exhaustion of legal procedures as required by law.