At Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s insistence (and over the objection of haredi politicians and activists) the deal mandates that these overseas haredi yeshiva students take brief courses on Zionism and its history, Israeli democracy, and Israeli history – including guided tours of important sites like Ammunition Hill and active IDF bases.
Government Funding For Overseas Haredi Yeshiva Students Formally Restored – With A Catch
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
20 million shekels ($5.8 million) meant to help fund overseas haredi yeshiva students who come to Israel to study in Israeli haredi yeshivas during this academic year was cut from the government’s budget earlier this year by the Finance Minister Yair Lapid but then provisionally restored to it after lobbying by Member of Knesset Nissim Slomiansky of the Zionist Orthodox HaBayit HaYehudi Party.
However, the deal Slomiansky made months ago with Lapid was not final until yesterday, when the Finance Ministry formally announced the deal in statement, saying it is confident the program will help connect haredim to the “essence and culture of the Land of Israel,” Yeshiva World reported.
At Lapid’s insistence (and over the objection of haredi politicians and activists) the deal mandates that these overseas haredi yeshiva students take brief courses on Zionism and its history, Israeli democracy, and Israeli history – including guided tours of important sites like Ammunition Hill and active IDF bases.
Those tours and classes are supposed to take place on Friday afternoons when most yeshivas do not hold regular classes and during yeshiva vacation days (bein hazemanim) and are meant to give these haredi students a positive perspective on Israel they might not otherwise receive.