The Blogs: When no one is in charge of our babies

When no one is in charge of our babies

Israel’s fragmented oversight of early childhood education leaves infants unprotected — and makes tragedies inevitable

A toddler seen sleeping next to a toilet in an overcrowded unlicensed daycare in Jerusalem in which 2 babies died. (Social media screenshot used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

Fifty-three babies sent to the emergency room, two infants dead — from an unlicensed daycare operating in plain sight.

It is a horrible tragedy. A tragedy compounded by people blaming the families’ lifestyle and politicians blaming their opponents.

What we all can, and should, agree on is this: every single child in the State of Israel, regardless of age or family background, should be safe in their educational institution. Yet early childhood education has been neglected for far too long. As a country that values growing families, we do not invest enough in the systems that ensure our youngest citizens receive basic safety and care.

Here is one of the core problems: oversight for early childhood education is currently divided between four government agencies – the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Health. Too many hands, no real accountability.

This fragmentation has real consequences. Unlicensed facilities operate openly with no single agency responsible for ensuring babies are safe. Parents don’t know where to turn with concerns. Gaps in enforcement put children at risk.

Often, when the neglected early childhood system does get attention, politicians propose expanding free education to include daycare. But the issue here is not cost – it is oversight and accountability. If the government has the budget to invest in early childhood education, it should not subsidize a broken system. It should build a system worthy of our children: one with trained professionals who know how to keep babies safe and help them learn and grow.

What needs to happen now:

Consolidate oversight. The transfer of responsibility to the Ministry of Education was a necessary first step, but the job is incomplete. Early childhood education from birth through age six must be under unified authority – one agency, one standard, one clear line of accountability.

Enforce existing regulations. We have standards for licensed facilities. The question is: how did an unlicensed facility with 55 children operate without intervention? Enforcement cannot be optional.

Invest in infrastructure and people. This means building supervised daycare centers, recruiting and training qualified staff, and creating the capacity to meet demand with quality care—not just any care.

Two babies are dead because the system failed them. The question is whether we will use this tragedy to finally fix the broken structure, or whether more children will die while responsibility remains fragmented.

The choice is ours.