The Association of Yeshiva and Torah Institution Administrators and a group of 23 donors filed two separate petitions with Israel’s High Court of Justice on Thursday challenging a policy that would deny Section 46 tax-deductible status to yeshivos attended by students who are subject to military service and have not regularized their status, JDN reported.

Section 46 of Israel’s Income Tax Ordinance allows donors to qualifying public institutions to receive a tax credit for their contributions. The petitions challenge directives issued by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and subsequent actions by the Israel Tax Authority requiring Torah institutions to verify the military status of their students before receiving or renewing Section 46 approval.

The Association of Yeshiva Administrators is asking the High Court to cancel both the Attorney General’s directive and the Tax Authority’s decision. It argues that the authorities have no legal authority to create a new ground for disqualification unrelated to tax law or to make Torah institutions responsible for verifying the military status of their students.

The petition further argues that requiring institutions to provide students’ personal information for comparison with IDF databases constitutes a disproportionate violation of privacy. It also claims that applying the policy only to Torah institutions, while not imposing similar requirements on other organizations that may include individuals subject to military service, amounts to selective enforcement and unlawful discrimination.

The association is also requesting an interim order directing the Tax Authority to stop requiring declarations regarding students subject to military service, resume processing applications, and forward them to the Knesset Finance Committee pending a final ruling. The petition describes the directive as “an unprecedented administrative maneuver” that fundamentally changes a long-standing policy.

The association argues that the Attorney General’s directives “could lead to a dangerous slippery slope that is inconsistent with both the law and the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and could ultimately affect every nonprofit organization whose donors receive tax recognition under Section 46.”

The petition illustrates this concern by comparing the policy to hypothetical situations in which municipalities would be required to turn off publicly funded streetlights in areas where someone subject to military service might walk, soup kitchens would lose tax-deductible status because they serve individuals subject to military service, or emergency responders would be prevented from providing medical treatment if such individuals were among the injured.

In the separate petition, the 23 donors argue that the government cannot use a mechanism intended to encourage charitable giving as an indirect enforcement tool in matters related to military service. They contend that the directive violates property rights, equality, privacy, and freedom of religion and conscience without explicit statutory authority.

The donors are seeking an immediate temporary injunction freezing implementation of the directive, followed by an interim order suspending it until the court reaches a final decision. Alternatively, they ask that the matter be returned for renewed consideration after a comprehensive review, examination of alternatives, and the establishment of clear and equal standards.

Both petitions argue that the sanction does not directly target those subject to military service, but instead harms the institutions themselves, all of their students, and their donors. They further contend that revoking Section 46 approval could significantly reduce donations and inflict severe financial harm on the institutions.

The policy was formulated following earlier legal proceedings concerning funding for yeshivos and benefits related to students subject to military service. In a petition filed by the organization Israel Hofsheet, the state informed the court that it would not approve new Section 46 applications for Torah institutions until a mechanism was established to ensure that approval would be granted only to institutions whose students had regularized their military status.

That petition was dismissed after the High Court determined that the state had effectively adopted the petitioner’s position. However, the court noted that challenges by the institutions and donors to the new framework could be heard in separate legal proceedings. The association and the donors are now seeking such a ruling from the High Court.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)