The haredi newspaper Mishpachah reported this today that the new
government’s coalition agreement will cost haredi families an average of
NIS 6,000 ($1,641) every month in lost government benefits. Mishpachah
reportedly estimates that the overall loss to the haredi community will
be NIS 2.3 billion ($629,119,000) – the average haredi family will lose
NIS 71,000 ($19,421) annually, Mishpacha reportedly claims.
Average Haredi Family Will Now Lose At least $19,000 Per Year In Gov’t Subsidies, Haredi Mag Says
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
The Israeli business daily Globes reports that the haredi newspaper Mishpachah reported this today that the new government’s coalition agreement will cost haredi families an average of NIS 6,000 ($1,641) every month in lost government benefits. Mishpachah reportedly estimates that the overall annual loss to the haredi community will be NIS 2.3 billion ($629,119,000) – the average haredi family will lose NIS 71,000 ($19,421) annually, Mishpacha reportedly claims.
This estimate is about $5,000 per family higher than the estimate of haredi government benefits made months before the election by the religious freedom organization Hiddush.
The Hiddush calculation also included housing benefits.
But the new government plans to make employment a necessary criterion for the Ministry of Housing and Construction's subsidized mortgage program for young couples. Until now, because of haredi manipulation of the program, haredim have received preferential treatment to get discounted apartments, but the new work requirement would end this because so many haredim choose not to work.
Mishpacha reportedly estimates that the value of the program to haredim works out to about NIS 150,000 ($41,000) to NIS 200,000 ($55,000) – as much as 25% of the home's price on the free market. If haredim are banned from the program for refusing to work, they could lose NIS 1,500 ($410) per family per month.