{"id":258366,"date":"2026-01-26T13:50:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T13:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/258366\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T13:50:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T13:50:32","slug":"79-of-kids-under-3-in-jerusalem-are-in-unsupervised-daycares-knesset-panel-hears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/258366\/","title":{"rendered":"79% of kids under 3 in Jerusalem are in unsupervised daycares, Knesset panel hears"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over 55,000 children under the age of 3 in Jerusalem \u2014 79 percent \u2014 are in unsupervised daycare settings, the Knesset Research and Information Center informed lawmakers during a Monday discussion of early childhood education, called in the wake of the deaths of two infants<\/a> last week at an unlicensed daycare in the capital.<\/p>\n

According to the research body\u2019s report, 55,100 children under 3 are currently outside the supervised daycare system in the capital, with an additional 13,400 in Beit Shemesh, 12,000 in Bnei Brak, 7,500 in Tel Aviv and 6,100 in Rahat.<\/p>\n

Only 21% of children under 3 in Jerusalem are registered at supervised daycares, a very low number compared to the other cities among the biggest 10 in the country \u2014 44% in Bnei Brak, 45% in Ashdod, 49% in Netanya, 53% in Haifa, 55% in Holon, 58% in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, 61% in Petah Tikva, 61% in Rishon LeZion and 62% in Beersheba.<\/p>\n

Among all local authorities in the country, the highest percentage of children in supervised daycares is in Ness Ziona (97%), Har Adar (94%), Rosh Pina (88%) and Ramat Hasharon (84%), while the lowest is in the Bedouin locales of Rahat, Arara and Kuseife (12%).<\/p>\n

The data was presented to the Knesset Education Committee, which held a joint discussion with the Knesset Welfare Committee and the Committee on the Rights of the Child in the wake of the tragic deaths of four-month-old Leah Goloventzitz and six-month-old Aharon Katz.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n

Both died and another 53 babies and toddlers were injured to varying degrees in an incident at an unlicensed Jerusalem daycare last Monday, prompting the arrest of three of the caregivers working there.<\/p>\n

Footage from the scene showed serious overcrowding. Police believe the two babies died of heat exhaustion and dehydration linked to a faulty heating system.<\/p>\n

Haredi politicians have blamed the incident on efforts to conscript ultra-Orthodox men to the IDF, which led the High Court of Justice in 2024 to order cuts to daycare subsidies for the children of draft evaders \u2014 though the phenomenon of widespread unlicensed daycares goes back decades. The incident also led to widespread rioting by Haredim opposed for religious reasons to autopsying the children.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tUltra-Orthodox Jewish men block a road and clash with police during a protest against the autopsy of two babies who died in an unlicensed daycare, in Jerusalem, January 19, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg\/ Flash90)<\/p>\n

Discussing the incident in the Knesset Education Committee on Monday, Labor MK Naama Lazimi accused United Torah Judaism party chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf of trying \u201cto whitewash the disaster\u201d and of being \u201cpart of the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, committee chairman Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism) accused Lazimi of inciting against the Haredi public.<\/p>\n

Goldknopf said that while his party wants to prevent future tragedies, the caregivers have been treated too harshly by law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tMK Yitzchak Goldknopf attends a joint meeting of the Education, Culture and Sports Committee, the Welfare Committee, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child at the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 26, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were held for several days in jail,\u201d he said. \u201cWhatever happened is in the past \u2014 you can\u2019t charge someone if you don\u2019t know they\u2019re guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Likud MK Keti Shitrit, the chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, lamented that almost half of the children under 3 in Israel are in unlicensed daycares.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are the babies being neglected? There is a grave manpower shortage. Fifty percent of caregivers leave during the year. Parents are forced to send their kids to unsupervised daycares,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tEducation Minister Yoav Kisch attends a joint meeting of the Education, Culture and Sports Committee, the Welfare Committee, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child at the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 26, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Education Minister Yoav Kisch said that cracking down on illegal daycare centers would require cross-agency cooperation, and that his ministry does not have the tools or authority to deal with the issue on its own.<\/p>\n

\u201cPirate daycare centers are a phenomenon that has existed for decades. It is clear that we are trying to ensure that as many daycare centers as possible are licensed and supervised, but without cooperation between the police, the prosecutor\u2019s office, local government and government ministries, we will not be able to deal with this,\u201d Kisch said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not have the information or the authority to go to a neighborhood and check one apartment or another to see if there are children inside or not. Since the issue was transferred to the Education Ministry, thousands of kindergartens have registered and come under supervision,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\tIs accurate Israel coverage important to you?\t\t\t<\/p>\n

If so, we have a request.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every day during the past two years of war and rising global anti-Zionism and antisemitism, our journalists kept you abreast of the most important developments that merit your attention. Millions of people rely on ToI for fact-based coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We care about Israel – and we know you do too. So we have an ask for this new year of 2026: express your values by joining The Times of Israel Community, an exclusive group for readers like you who appreciate and financially support our work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tI’m with you and will give\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tI’m with you and will give\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\tYou appreciate our journalism\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re really pleased that you\u2019ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month. \n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

You clearly find our careful reporting valuable, in a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.<\/p>\n

Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically since October 7.<\/p>\n

So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you’ll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing\u00a0exclusive content\u00a0available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n

Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over 55,000 children under the age of 3 in Jerusalem \u2014 79 percent \u2014 are in unsupervised daycare…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-258366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}