The Finance Ministry instructed the Education Ministry's
Yeshiva Department to raise monthly allowances from NIS 330
to NIS 400 ($88) for yeshiva students and from NIS 600 to NIS
720 ($159) for avreichi kollelim.
The directive was based on the budget agreement United Torah
Jewry signed with the Finance Ministry several months ago.
According to the agreement, funding for yeshivas would
increase every month until the end of the year, but because
the number of talmidim has grown the budget could not
be increased and talks on the matter continued through last
week. The increase in the monthly allowance will begin in
July.
Since the budget was passed three months ago MKs Rabbi Moshe
Gafni and Rabbi Yaakov Litzman have held talks with Budget
Commissioner Kobi Haber, his deputy, Y. Anduran, Finance
Ministry Education Commissioner Uri Shusterman, Yeshiva
Department Accountant Shimon Eckster and Yeshiva Department
Director Amus Tzei'ada.
The raise in the monthly funding allowances will not increase
the total yeshiva budget since the increase is being taken
for yeshiva budget surpluses from last year, TEAM remainders,
which the Finance Ministry promised to pay from its budget
and from the reserve paragraph for the rise in the cost-of-
living. MKs Gafni and Litzman agreed to fund the allowance
increases using these sources in order to benefit the Torah
world.
In order to make the allowance increases possible Yeshiva
Department Accountant Shimon Eckster sought out for the
Finance Ministry Budget Department all of the unused
funds.
In the Knesset Degel HaTorah expressed hopes talks on the NIS
150 million pledged in the agreement with the Finance
Ministry would conclude within a matter of days to enable the
realization of the various clauses.
