"Nobody messes with the haredim. In this respect, not all of Israel's laws apply to Mea Shearim."
10,000 Haredi Kids Study In Unsafe, Illegal Schools In Jerusalem Alone, Government Allegedly Afraid To Enforce The Law Against Haredim
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
About 10,000 students in Jerusalem from grammar school through high school age are enrolled in unregulated haredi schools that are often overcrowded, unsafe and unsanitary, Ha’aretz reported.
School lunches, if they exist, are often so bad they can barely be called food. Bathrooms are often woefully overcrowded. Playgrounds are often unkept narrow courtyards or rooftops. And students get no secular education.
The Jerusalem Municipality and the state are supposed to enforce the law, which would mean shutting these schools, which are often part of Satmar, Breslov or other hasidic groups tied to the vehemently anti-Zionist Edah Haredit umbrella group.
But city and state officials fear going into Mea Shearim, where many of the illegal schools are located.
"Nobody messes with the haredim,” a source familiar with the haredi education system told Ha’aretz. “In this respect, not all of Israel's laws apply to Mea Shearim."
The Ministry of Education declined to answer any questions posed to it by Ha’aretz about the illegal schools.