With the approval of the state budget for 2015-16 and in accordance with the coalition agreements between the Likud and ultra-Orthodox parties, budgetary funding allocated to yeshivas (seminaries for single men) and kollels (for married men) grew significantly this year. That funding had previously been cut by the last government due to pressure from Yesh Atid.

The budget for yeshivas and kollels includes a monthly subsistence stipend for students. This sum grew from 310 shekels ($78) per month (in January 2015) to 477 shekels ($120), while funding for kollel students increased from 558 shekels ($140) per month to 858 shekels ($215). The ultra-Orthodox parties also succeeded in establishing a new precedent by having these stipends paid retroactively, dating back to January 2015. As a result, yeshiva students received a one-time compensatory grant of 1,477 shekels ($317), while kollel students received a similar grant of 2,658 shekels ($668).

The yeshiva and kollel system is the hub around which the entire ultra-Orthodox sector revolves. At age 13, virtually every male ultra-Orthodox Israeli enters this system. He will remain immersed in his yeshiva studies until about the age of 20, when he will get married and continue his studies in a kollel. According to data provided by the Central Bureau of Statistics, there were some 83,000 kollel students in Israel in the 2013-14 academic year. Most of these will pursue their religious studies for one to three years, and then leave the kollel to join the workforce. A minority will opt to continue their studies.

While most kollels follow an identical regimen of study, they can be distinguished by their distinct focus and approach to learning. They are mainly divided into schools that focus on the Babylonian Talmud (the teachings of Jewish sages from the third through the fifth centuries) and ones that focus on the Shulhan Aruch (a compendium of Jewish law dating from the 15th century). Among those kollels that focus on the Babylonian Talmud, there is a subgroup that applies the classical approach to studying the text page by page, and another subgroup that focuses on the in-depth study of Talmudic topics. The second subgroup is considered more prestigious. Similarly, there are different types of kollels that emphasize Jewish law. Some concentrate on the core laws of the Sabbath, kosher food and family law, while others focus on more advanced studies of torts and other subjects to qualify their students for ordination as rabbis and as judges in religious courts. This subgroup, too, is considered especially prestigious. Then there are a handful of kollels, particularly older, more established institutions, that practice a freestyle type of study without any uniform focus or guidelines.