Children and school in Israel: child benefit, Hebrew and military service
In Israel children follow their parents' residency. A family making aliyah receives child allowance from the day of aliyah, in 2026 173 or 219 shekels per child per month. Dutch child benefit stops when you go to live in Israel. Israeli children abroad can request deferral of military service from the age of 16 years and 4 months.
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In Israel, children follow their parents' residency, writes Bituach Leumi, the National Insurance Institute. A family making aliyah receives Israeli child allowance from the day of aliyah, without having to ask for it. Children up to 18 also have no waiting period for healthcare. Dutch child benefit stops when you go to live in Israel. If your children have Israeli nationality, military service also comes into play around their sixteenth birthday.
What does a family receive in Israel?
Amounts from Bituach Leumi, as of 1 January 2026:
| Scheme | Amount | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| Child allowance, first child | 173 shekels a month | every family in Israel, children up to 18 |
| Child allowance, second to fourth child | 219 shekels a month per child | same |
| Child allowance, fifth child onwards | 173 shekels a month per child | same |
| Savings plan per child | 58 shekels a month from Bituach Leumi; parents can add 58 shekels from the child allowance | every child with child allowance |
| Study grant | 1,204 shekels per child, in August | single-parent families among others; school year 2026-2027: children born from 2009 to 2020 |
The child allowance does not depend on your income and arrives on the twentieth of the month. Anyone receiving certain Bituach Leumi benefits, such as income support, gets an extra 113 shekels per child for the third and fourth child.
How do you get the child allowance when making aliyah?
Bituach Leumi pays it from the day of aliyah, based on data from the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration. No application is needed. If you have received nothing two months after aliyah, you submit a claim yourself at your local Bituach Leumi branch. If your family only obtained oleh status later than the day of arrival, you are entitled from arrival, provided Bituach Leumi recognises you as residents from that day. For that you do have to submit a claim yourself.
If you come as the partner of an Israeli or return as an Israeli, you are entitled as soon as you are recognised as residents. A child born in Israel to a parent with an A/1 or A/5 visa is registered as a resident automatically after registration.
What stops in the Netherlands?
If you live outside the Netherlands, you are not insured for Dutch child benefit, according to the SVB, even if you still have a house in the Netherlands. There is one exception that matters: if you keep working in the Netherlands, you can be insured. The SVB lists Israel as a treaty country for child benefit, except the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan.
How do the children learn Hebrew?
For olim, the Jewish Agency describes dozens of absorption centres and programmes for work, study, housing and Hebrew, the ulpan. The Israeli school itself is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. According to that ministry's parents' portal, with the circular for the 2025-2026 school year, a pupil who is an oleh gets at least six hours a week of Hebrew as a second language. A returning pupil, who spent at least four consecutive school years abroad, does not get those hours automatically: he or she takes a language test and gets a personal plan. Both may sit the final exam with adjustments.
You register your child with the education department of your municipality, mostly online. The regular registration is every year in the Hebrew month of Shevat, in January or February. If you arrive during the year, ask the municipality how it works.
If you want your child to keep up their Dutch, that is possible alongside the Israeli school. According to NederlandWereldwijd, a child can take Dutch language and culture lessons after school, or fully online. The Foundation for Dutch Education Abroad has a school finder.
If you take diplomas or school reports for an Israeli school or university, have Dutch diplomas legalised. At DUO that costs € 6 per document. A court then makes it final with an apostille, because Israel is party to the Apostille Convention.
What applies to military service?
For children with Israeli nationality who live in the Netherlands: the embassy in The Hague handles applications for deferral of military service for Israeli citizens and permanent residents abroad, from the age of 16 years and 4 months. That is done with form 7202 and is free of charge. Anyone recognised as a child of emigrants can also undergo screening for the army without giving up that status.
Do not plan a return with teenagers without the army. For olim, the Jewish Agency says that the right and the obligation to serve, and the length of service, depend on the age at arrival in Israel and on the family situation. Only the IDF decides; get in touch even before aliyah.
How healthcare for children works is in healthcare in Israel. What applies after a divorce when emigrating with children is in emigrating with children after a divorce.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.5: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Israel or go straight to step 3.5 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- National Insurance Institute — child allowance per child in 2026 — btl.gov.il
- National Insurance Institute — child allowance for families making aliyah — btl.gov.il
- National Insurance Institute — the savings plan for each child — btl.gov.il
- National Insurance Institute — the study grant for the 2026-2027 school year — btl.gov.il
- National Insurance Institute — the residency of minor children — btl.gov.il
- Israeli embassy in The Hague — deferral of military service for Israelis abroad — embassies.gov.il
- Jewish Agency — ulpan, integration programmes and military service for olim — jewishagency.org
- Ministry of Education — parents' portal, the rights of pupils who are olim or returning residents (2025-2026 school year) — parents.education.gov.il
- Ministry of Education — parents' portal, registering for school through the municipality — parents.education.gov.il
- SVB — living outside the Netherlands and child benefit — svb.nl
- General Child Benefit Act, article 7b — no child benefit outside the EU without a treaty — wetten.overheid.nl
- NederlandWereldwijd — Dutch education for children abroad — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
- NederlandWereldwijd — legalising Israeli certificates with an apostille — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
- DUO — having a Dutch diploma legalised for use abroad — duo.nl
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