District court: injunction against funding drop-out youth activities
Initial release • Member of opposition appealed against the decision of the Jerusalem Municipality to fund prevention activity of dropouts - and won injunction • "The decision to leave religion is beyond the scope of a local authority"
- Yoel Koritz, Behadrey Haredim
- כ"ח ניסן התשע"ג
Drop out youth. Photo: Illustration
The Jerusalem District Court approved a temporary restraining order to finance the program of the Jerusalem Municipality for dropout prevention in haredi and religious institutions, to the amount of half a million. Judge David Cheshin, President of the Court, held that the municipality must respond to the petition filed by a Council member, Meir Turgeman, until next Monday.
The program, designed at the request of the Department for Haredi Education at the municipality, amounted to funding of half a million shekels. According to the explanation sheets to the request, its purpose is to "respond to the need which rises in religious high schools for boys and girls across the country, where girls who finish high school leave religion or its meaning and liveliness."
The resolution previously passed the approval of the Finance Committee and City Council. But a member of the opposition, through his attorney Yossi Havilio, filed an administrative appeal to the court to nullify the decision.
Turgeman raised a fundamental issue in the petition - whether a local authority can finance a program that deals with preventing youth from becoming irreligious, from public funds. "This is a matter of principle and national importance. The decision whether to be religious or not, whether to join religion or leave it, is a decision of each and every person under the freedom of religion and conscience, preventing the abandonment of religion is a question which does not bear on the local authority to deal with, and certainly not to fund activities which prevent abandonment of religion."
As revealed in Behadrey Haredim, a few days after approval of the plan Havilio sent a letter to the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, and demanded that the decision of the Council be canceled. He was told that the request had been forwarded to the Attorney of the municipality who will reply to him directly, but has not received an answer until today, and therefore he used the 45 days available to file an administrative appeal.
As mentioned, today for the first time the court dealt with the petition and issued a temporary injunction decision. The following hearing will deal with the petition itself, and will take place next Thursday. The Jerusalem Municipality must respond to the petition by Monday.
The program, designed at the request of the Department for Haredi Education at the municipality, amounted to funding of half a million shekels. According to the explanation sheets to the request, its purpose is to "respond to the need which rises in religious high schools for boys and girls across the country, where girls who finish high school leave religion or its meaning and liveliness."
The resolution previously passed the approval of the Finance Committee and City Council. But a member of the opposition, through his attorney Yossi Havilio, filed an administrative appeal to the court to nullify the decision.
Turgeman raised a fundamental issue in the petition - whether a local authority can finance a program that deals with preventing youth from becoming irreligious, from public funds. "This is a matter of principle and national importance. The decision whether to be religious or not, whether to join religion or leave it, is a decision of each and every person under the freedom of religion and conscience, preventing the abandonment of religion is a question which does not bear on the local authority to deal with, and certainly not to fund activities which prevent abandonment of religion."
As revealed in Behadrey Haredim, a few days after approval of the plan Havilio sent a letter to the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, and demanded that the decision of the Council be canceled. He was told that the request had been forwarded to the Attorney of the municipality who will reply to him directly, but has not received an answer until today, and therefore he used the 45 days available to file an administrative appeal.
As mentioned, today for the first time the court dealt with the petition and issued a temporary injunction decision. The following hearing will deal with the petition itself, and will take place next Thursday. The Jerusalem Municipality must respond to the petition by Monday.
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