Israeli police break up Yeshiva scam

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police broke up a scam carried out by ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups who faked ID cards for fictitious students in order to receive millions of extra dollars from the state, a spokesman said Sunday.

Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police arrested six people after they found more than 1,000 fake ID cards during a raid on three ultra-Orthodox educational institutions in Jerusalem.

The fraud lasted more than a year, Rosenfeld said, and cost the government "tens of millions of shekels."

Israel provides stipends for students who study at full-time Jewish seminaries, or Yeshivas, a policy in place for years, but one that has been facing increased opposition from the country's secular majority.

Consecutive government coalitions have relied on the support of ultra-religious parties, who in return have traditionally received financial benefits for their own community.

(Writing by Ari Rabinovitch, Editing by David Stamp)