Knesset Advances Daycare Subsidy Bill in Preliminary Vote

The daycare bill passed a preliminary reading this afternoon (Wednesday), with 44 lawmakers voting in favor and 37 against. Members of the Religious Zionism faction did not take part in the vote. MK Dan Illouz (*Likud*) voted against the bill.

As previously reported, the bill, initiated by Deputy Minister Yisrael Eichler, states that daycare subsidies will be determined based on the toddler’s mother rather than the father. The bill’s sponsor argues that this is meant to prevent discrimination against working women.

The bill is intended, in practice, to מחדש the criteria for receiving state subsidies for daycare centers, following a Supreme Court ruling that had previously determined that subsidies must be halted for families in which the father does not serve in the military, arguing that such support violates the principle of equality.

Under the proposed law, eligibility for daycare subsidies would be determined solely by the mother’s status — whether she is employed or studying — regardless of the father’s status when it comes to military service or occupation. However, the father’s income would still be taken into account when calculating per capita family income במסגרת the support eligibility tests.

The explanatory notes to the bill state that "a woman’s rights to her work and livelihood are constitutional rights of the highest order," and that the state is obligated to enable women to go out to work and earn a living without that being dependent on their spouse or his way of life. It further argues that denying discounts to working women solely because their spouses chose to dedicate their lives to *Torah* study constitutes a violation of human dignity, freedom of occupation, and their rights as working mothers.

Deputy Minister Eichler, who initiated the daycare bill, said: "The daycare bill that I proposed many months ago anchors the right of a working mother to receive a daycare discount regardless of the actions of her husband. The Knesset’s vote in favor of the bill is an important point of light amid the darkness of persecution against the entire *Haredi* public. The Knesset understood that it is impossible to impose decrees on children and mothers because of the *Torah* study of the family’s father. This is important news for thousands of families whom this law will help earn a dignified living in the job market. I hope the Knesset will expedite the legislative process as quickly as possible until the law is finally passed."