Shai Calderon, head of the Education Ministry’s Haredi District, sent a notice to the heads of haredi girls high schools in Beit Shemesh, warning that if they do not accept the students placed in their schools, they will lose government funding.
Under this ultimatum, the principals must accept the students registered with them by the evening of Sunday, September 14, 2025, at 6:00 p.m.
Last week, the Education Ministry revoked, in an unprecedented fashion, funding for a haredi girls high school in Jerusalem which refused to accept students placed there through the official student placement system.
The Ministry’s sharp, resolute decision indicates a significant change in policy in how it handles haredi educational institutions which refuse to cooperate with the Ministry’s placement instructions.
Also last week, Degel Hatorah’s MK Moshe Gafni spoke at a school inauguration in Beit Shemesh, urging Shas: “Open new educational institutions, as would be expected for a quality community, so your daughters have a place to study pleasantly and comfortably, without needing to crowd into our institutions.”
Shas quickly responded, stating: “The Shas movement’s life mission is to establish top-tier educational institutions for the Sephardic public, and that is what it has done, with great success, for decades.”
The party added with irony: “Kudos to Rabbi Moshe Gafni for emphasizing how important it is that the Shas movement remain strong and independent.”