When United Torah Judaism inked
its coalition agreement with Likud on April 29, party members
triumphantly hailed the reversal of a slew of legislative measures
implemented by arch-nemesis Yair Lapid, including an increase in monthly
child allowances — but it came with one caveat.
Under the terms of the coalition deal,
which appointed party member Yaakov Litzman deputy health minister, “the
National Insurance law will be amended, such that child allowances will
not be given in cases where a parent refuses to vaccinate their child.”
That condition — which did not specify which
vaccines would be included — revives a six-year-old debate on the
legality of linking over the past few years welfare benefits to
vaccinations. It also comes on the heels of a quiet climb in the number
of parents opting out of some or all vaccinations, primarily from within
some segments of the ultra-Orthodox community as well as Bedouin
families in southern Israel with limited access to medical treatment
(another group is found among upper-to-middle class Israelis, based on
ideological grounds).
The Haredim and Bedouin, among those most
resistant to inoculations, are also among Israel’s most impoverished and
have the largest families, so they are ultimately the most dependent on
the monthly allowances. Hinging benefits on vaccinations, then, puts
them in a tight spot.
