Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has informed the Supreme Court that the Education Ministry will be required to prepare to revoke government subsidies and discounts for Nitzanim after-school programs for families of yeshiva students classified as draft evaders.
According to the Attorney General's notice, the new policy is expected to take effect at the start of the upcoming 2026-2027 school year.
The unilateral move marks a significant expansion of the civil and economic measures being used against the haredi sector, following a Supreme Court ruling last October that instructed state authorities to sanction those who fail to report for military service.
The new measure joins a series of sanctions already implemented, including the cancellation of daycare subsidies for toddlers and the loss of eligibility for the government's discounted housing lottery program.
However, the Attorney General clarified that, due to logistical constraints and the limited time available for implementation, the sanctions will not apply this summer to the "Summer School" program. Instead, they will take effect only when the new school year begins.
The decision could have major financial implications for tens of thousands of haredi families, particularly in large haredi communities where the Nitzanim after-school framework is considered an essential service that enables many mothers to remain in the workforce.
The loss of government subsidies is expected to increase monthly childcare costs by hundreds of shekels per child, placing a significant financial burden on large families, many of whom already live below the poverty line or face economic hardship.
Haredi leaders reacted with outrage, describing the measure as "crossing a moral red line" and "cruel collective punishment." Community representatives accused the legal system of targeting children and infants as a means of applying political pressure on the Torah world.
"This is unprecedented insensitivity, in which they are trying to starve families and harm the most basic educational and welfare services," haredi representatives said in a statement.