MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni has called on Attorney General Mani Mazuz "to review all of the decisions affecting Chinuch Atzmai made by Amnon De Hartoch, formerly head of the Justice Ministry's Support Payments Department," following a vitriolic article on Chinuch Atzmai written by De Hartoch and published in Ha'aretz.
In the article De Hartoch describes Chinuch Atzmai as an "Ottoman [i.e. antiquated], virtual association that according to the law should have been dismantled long ago." He goes on to claim, "The authorities pour hundreds of millions into this frenetic organization every year."
De Hartoch was dismissed from his Justice Ministry post two years ago after he struck then-MK Rabbi Yaakov Cohen during an exchange in a corridor of the Knesset building.
"Now the real reason behind the legislative initiative that led to the total collapse of school funding has become clear," wrote Rabbi Gafni in his letter to the Attorney General. "It was because of De Hartoch's hatred towards Chinuch Atzmai and his personal desire to provide private schools an equal status, which they did not have in the past."
In the letter Rabbi Gafni surveys Chinuch Atzmai's status over the past several decades since the founding of the state, when parents were given an option to enroll their children in government or Chinuch Atzmai schools. The early legislation even determined that the Education Ministry would provide the school system the same funding government schools receive.
