FROM SCREEN TO COURTROOM
How No Child Spared helped drive a landmark verdict against an ultra-Orthodox school in Israel
On 20 March 2025, the plaintiffs opened their closing arguments by describing key scenes from No Child Spared and quoting press interviews with director Meni Philip and leading media coverage of the film.
On 22 April 2025, the court found nine teachers and the school liable for years of abuse. Approximately US $6.4 million awarded to former pupils.
Although the civil lawsuit against the Belz school had been ongoing since February 2020, the plaintiffs opened their closing arguments on 20 March 2025 by referencing scenes from No Child Spared and quoting media interviews with director Meni Philip.
Their aim was to illustrate the systemic nature of the abuse and to give the court a vivid, contemporary lens on the children’s experiences:
“In early March 2025 the documentary No Child Spared premiered, bringing to the screen the painful stories of Heders [ultra-Orthodox schools] pupils nationwide who had suffered violence from their teachers since kindergarten age.
‘Their on‑camera accounts range from chilling to outright brutal. Beating teachers enter the classroom unrestrained, freely wielding their instruments of torment — fully backed by school administrators.’”