Healthcare in Israel: the health fund, the contribution and the waiting period for returnees
Every resident of Israel is insured through a health fund, and pays his contribution to Bituach Leumi according to income. An oleh is insured from registration. An Israeli who lived abroad for a long time waits two to six months, or redeems that waiting period for 16,860 shekels. Israel is not a CAK treaty country: Dutch healthcare stops when you leave.
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In Israel every resident is insured for healthcare, under the State Health Insurance Law. You choose a health fund, a kupat cholim, and it has to offer you a fixed statutory package. You do not pay the contribution to the health fund but to Bituach Leumi, the National Insurance Institute, according to your income. When you get in differs per route. An oleh is insured from the day he registers. An Israeli who lived abroad for a long time waits two to six months after returning. A partner gets in as soon as he is recognised as a resident. A foreign worker is not covered.
When are you insured?
| Who | When insured | What it costs, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| New oleh | from registration with a health fund | six months without health contribution on an income below 688 shekels |
| Israeli after a long stay outside Israel | after a waiting period of 2 to 6 months | redeemable for 16,860 shekels; contributions continue |
| Partner or A/1 holder | as soon as Bituach Leumi recognises you as a resident | contribution according to income |
| Employee with a B visa | not in the state insurance | private insurance under the rules for foreign workers |
| Resident without income | continuously | 123 shekels health contribution a month |
How does the waiting period work for a returning Israeli?
Bituach Leumi imposes a waiting period if you lived abroad for 18 consecutive months or more and did not pay health contributions for at least twelve months, or if you lost your residency. For every year of absence you wait one month, with a minimum of two and a maximum of six months. A year counts if you were abroad for at least 182 days within twelve months. So someone who lived in the Netherlands for ten years waits six months.
One month of waiting period consists of 25 consecutive days in Israel. If you leave earlier, those days do not count. You keep paying contributions during the waiting period too.
You can redeem the waiting period with a one-off payment of 16,860 shekels (amount as of 1 January 2026), in one go or in at most six equal instalments. That can already be done from the Netherlands, before you leave, once Bituach Leumi recognises you as a resident. After that you are entitled to healthcare immediately, except for care abroad and fertility treatment. You do not get the money back, unless you do not return after all or turn out not to be a resident.
With a waiting period, there is a gap of months between your Dutch health insurance and the Israeli one. Israel is not among the CAK treaty countries, so Dutch healthcare does not continue. According to the travel advice, you pay directly yourself in an Israeli hospital. Redeem the waiting period, or take out private insurance for those months.
Exempt from the waiting period are, among others, an oleh under the Law of Return, children up to 18, and an A/1 holder recognised as a new immigrant for the first time.
What do you pay in contributions?
Bituach Leumi collects the health contribution together with the national insurance contribution. For 2026:
- Employees pay 3.23 per cent on the part of their wage up to 7,703 shekels a month, and 5.17 per cent on the part above it.
- Those who do not work but do have income, such as a pension or rent, pay themselves. The first 3,442 shekels a month is exempt. Above that you pay 5.17 per cent health contribution, plus the national insurance contribution: together 12.09 per cent up to 7,703 shekels and 12.17 per cent above it.
- Those who do not work and have no income pay 266 shekels a month, of which 123 shekels is health contribution.
- A new oleh without income, or with less than 688 shekels, pays no health contribution for six months. That can become twelve months if the ministry also pays a subsistence benefit.
Whether an exemption applies to your Dutch pension is for Bituach Leumi to decide. How Israel taxes that pension is in AOW, pension and tax.
What is not in the package?
According to the Jewish Agency, state health insurance does not cover the dentist or glasses. Health funds sometimes give a discount on them. For approved medicines you pay a co-payment. According to the Jewish Agency, the level of the contribution depends on your income.
What stops in the Netherlands?
Your Dutch health insurance stops when you emigrate. Because Israel is not a CAK treaty country, you cannot stay insured through the CAK as an AOW recipient or pensioner either. The 1984 social security convention between the Netherlands and Israel covers sickness benefit, AOW, survivors, unemployment and child benefit, not healthcare costs. How to cancel without a gap is in cancelling your health insurance without a gap. Where to register is in registration and numbers.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 1 of 5 of the journey, step 1.2: 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 1.2 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 — state health insurance, who pays contributions and the health fund — btl.gov.il
- National Insurance Institute — health contributions for employees, the self-employed and non-workers (2026) — btl.gov.il
- National Insurance Institute — contributions on income not from work, and the minimum of 266 shekels (2026) — btl.gov.il
- National Insurance Institute — the waiting period for healthcare after a stay abroad, and who is exempt — btl.gov.il
- National Insurance Institute — redeeming the waiting period for 16,860 shekels (2026) — btl.gov.il
- National Insurance Institute — new olim, exemption from health contributions and registering with a health fund — btl.gov.il
- National Insurance Institute — foreign workers are not covered by state health insurance — btl.gov.il
- Jewish Agency — healthcare for new immigrants, and what it does not cover — jewishagency.org
- CAK — the treaty countries for healthcare (Israel is not among them) — hetcak.nl
- Netherlands–Israel social security convention (Jerusalem, 25 April 1984), article 2 — which branches it covers — wetten.overheid.nl
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