Mechir Lamishtaken [special deals for low income Israelis on mortgages] is one blatant illustration of the way Israeli politics has helped the haredim maintain themselves without working. The cheaper mortgage offered by the Housing Ministry…is given only to those who have been married a certain number of years, have a certain number of children and a certain number of aunts and uncles on both parents’ sides. In other words, only people whose families have been large for at least two generations meet the criteria. One can easily guess for which population the benefit is intended.
Former Housing Minister Rabbi Ariel Attias of the Sefardi haredi Shas party, right, former head of the Knesset's Finance Committee, Rabbi Moshe Gafni of the Ashkenazi United Torah Judaism party, left
Meirav Arlosoroff has a piece on Ha'aretz explaining how various government programs that were meant to benefit all Israelis were twisted by haredi politicians so that the programs essentially gave a very disproportionately large amount of their budgets to haredim.
Her key example is the Mechir Lamishtaken [special deals for low income Israelis on mortgages] which was managed by the Housing Ministry, headed until this week by Rabbi Ariel Attias of the Sefardi haredi Shas Party:
…Mechir Lamishtaken [special deals for low income Israelis on mortgages] is one blatant illustration of the way Israeli politics has helped the Haredim maintain themselves without working. The cheaper mortgage offered by the Housing Ministry, which became particularly attractive just this year when its interest rates were lowered, is given only to those who have been married a certain number of years, have a certain number of children and a certain number of aunts and uncles on both parents’ sides. In other words, only people whose families have been large for at least two generations meet the criteria. One can easily guess for which population the benefit is intended.
Haredim also receive sizable apartment-maintenance benefits. They can get a discount of up to 90 percent from municipal tax (arnona), amounting to as much as NIS 4,000 per year. This is a benefit for which families with particularly low incomes are eligible – but the income level has to be so low that even if one member works at minimum wage, the family loses eligibility unless it has seven people or more.All these benefits are provided with or without income criteria, but in all cases work [i.e., employment] is not a factor. Even in those cases where the benefit is conditional upon low income, it is not conditional upon working as well. This means that people whose income is low merely because they have chosen not to work and support their families are those who qualify.
In practice, this is a well-oiled mechanism of exploiting the assistance provided by the state – which is funded, of course, by Israeli taxpayers – so that the Haredim can continue not working and not paying taxes. This mechanism allows the Haredim to maintain their unique lifestyle: While they have almost no income and are indeed very poor, at the same time they have very few expenses because their poverty enables them to receive state assistance.
The Haredim can go on like this for years. Their poverty does not disturb them as long as they and their families can survive. The one that cannot go on like this for years is the State of Israel, whose taxpayers are going to collapse under the burden of the allowances and benefits provided to all those who do not work. The taxpayers’ solidarity with the state will also erode as they see how their work is being exploited to fund the non-working lifestyle of others.
This exploitation cannot go on. Of course, the Haredim have the right to their own lifestyle, but they cannot maintain it at others’ expense. If they wish to keep it going, let them fund the yeshiva students and the schools that teach only religious subjects themselves – but to do so, they must go out and work.
Ha'aretz titled Arlosoroff's article "How the Haredim have exploited state assistance." It should have been titled, "How Haredim Ripped Off Israel While Their Ally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Knowingly Turned A Blind Eye."