The Federation for Citizens' Rights filed a complaint with
the Supreme Court, claiming that most of the Jerusalem
Municipality's budget for summer camps has been allocated to
the chareidi community. As such, it discriminates against low
income families in other sectors of the population.
The Jerusalem City Council subsidizes camps of the various
institutions under its aegis. Two weeks ago, the Council
decided to transfer 413 thousand shekel to subsidize the day
camps. Out of this sum, 305 thousand shekels were allocated
to chareidi camps, and 108 thousand to the remaining sectors
of the city.
The Federation for Citizens' Rights claims, "All of the
city's children have the right for equal support from the
city budget. Only a third of Jerusalem's students study in
chareidi schools, while a third study in either State
Religious schools or State schools, and the remaining third
in the Arab sector."
The Municipal spokesman said: "The Municipality subsidizes
camps according to the needs of the population and its
consumption trends, without distinguishing between sectors.
In the past, the Social Department of the Municipality
pinpointed various characteristics of the city's different
communities, and from this study, we were able to ascertain
various patterns. According to the study, the chareidi and
the Arab sectors are interested in a basic camp program which
meets their main needs for social activities in the
summer."
In response to the claim, Deputy Mayor Rabbi Uri Maklev said:
"Envy is at play here. We even think that it might be a good
idea to support the petition, in order to demonstrate, once
and for all, just how much support the chareidi community
receives and how much the secular one receives. These
allocations stem from the importance our sector places on the
need for camps, alongside the inability of large families to
afford such programs. As a result, the subsidy they receive
from the Municipality is larger. But I ask that all of the
resources and all of the amounts that a chareidi child as
opposed to a secular child is allotted, be examined."
