$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Charedi Parties Threaten to Boycott Key Knesset Vote

Yitzhak Goldknopf 

 The United Torah Judaism (UTJ) faction has threatened to boycott the Knesset plenum until their “education issues are resolved”.

The threat by the Charedi parties is exacerbated by the fact that the majority coalition plans to introduce a number of bills Thursday for a vote in a plenum session scheduled for Monday – and a boycott will make it harder to pass those bills.

The UTJ spokesperson did not specify which “education issues” he was referring to

However it is reportedly related to two Charedi yeshiva systems, Chinuch Atzmai and Bnei Yosef.

The Charedi parties have demanded that the two systems be included in a salary agreement called “Ofek Chadash” that would increase teachers’ salaries based on several criteria.

Ofek Chadash began in the public school system in 2008.

“We are also sick of this behavior,” a senior UTJ official told Kikar Hashabbos. “We are slapped with difficult economic sanctions and for most of them Netanyahu tells us that he is unable to help, since these are Supreme Court decisions. Here it is a matter which falls under the government’s responsibility, and this, too, he does not handle.”

UTJ announced the boycott to Coalition whip MK Ofir Katz (Likud), according to a spokesperson for one of the party’s MKs.

The main bill planned for Thursday is an amendment to the budget bill, which proposes to increase spending for 2024 by NIS 3.4 billion to fund evacuees from the North and South.

The reform includes a pay raise as well as additional hours in which teachers are required to take up to five students who need extra help and provide assistance above their own teaching hours.