Then there is the Education Ministry's Jewish culture budget, which Ilan
said is designed to provide state funds to organizations affiliated
with Haredi parties, including Shas' El Hama'ayan and United Torah
Judaism's Torah V'Yahadut La'am ("Torah and Judaism for the People"), as
well as those that encourage religious observance by the secular Jews.
Under the last government, the budget has ballooned from NIS 20 million
to NIS 60 million a year.
If haredim are not part of the new governing coalition Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to form, they stand to lose millions of shekels in state funding. (Today's exchange rate, by the way, is 27 US cents equals 1 Israeli shekel.)
How much state funding do haredim currently get?
According to Ha'aretz, hundreds of billions of shekels worth, including money specifically designated to convert secular Jews to haredism:
…The Haredi community is allocated hundreds of billions of shekels every year, said Shahar Ilan, the vice president of research and information for Hiddush, an organization that promotes religious tolerance. In the past four years, Haredi-administered school dormitories alone received NIS 60 million in state funding, he said, NIS 40 million of which is not formally budgeted but secured by the lobbying efforts of Haredi-party Knesset members.
Then there is the Education Ministry's Jewish culture budget, which Ilan said is designed to provide state funds to organizations affiliated with Haredi parties, including Shas' El Hama'ayan and United Torah Judaism's Torah V'Yahadut La'am ("Torah and Judaism for the People"), as well as those that encourage religious observance by the secular Jews. Under the last government, the budget has ballooned from NIS 20 million to NIS 60 million a year, Ilan said.
An even bigger chunk of state funding goes to Haredi education. The school systems associated with Shas and United Torah Judaism each received between NIS 100 million and NIS 150 million in last four years. Yeshivas in general received billions of shekels, including about NIS 800 in monthly scholarships for every married yeshiva student and NIS 500 scholarships for unmarried students.…
To defend this funding, haredim are threatening to block funding for Jewish West Bank settlements. They're also trying to make the case that bulk of the funding they receive is just like the funding secular schools receive – even though many haredi schools refuse to teach any secular subjects including Israel's entire core curriculum. This is a clear violation of the law and of a High Court of Justice ruling. Netanyahu's current government has refused to do anything to enforce that law or that High Court ruling, however, because Netanyahu – the craven, self-centered, dishonest man that he is – needs haredim to stay in power.
Even now, when he could form a government without haredi parties, he won't do it, because he knows that within a matter of months that government would likely fall. The next election resulting from that fall will almost certainly see Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid party or another rival political leader as prime minister.
That's why haredi missionary efforts are government funded. And that's why haredi get a disproportionate about of welfare payments and housing subsidies.