
The minimum wage in Israel is set to increase by 6.25% in April, corresponding to the rise in the average wage. The new minimum wage is expected to be 34.33 shekels per hour ($9.46 per hour) or 6,248 shekels per month ($1,721 per month) for full-time work.
According to the Minimum Wage Law, the Israeli minimum wage is updated every April to accord with 47.5% of the average wage. The National Insurance Institute has not yet officially published its estimate of the average wage, but it is expected to do so in the coming days.
The National Insurance Institute, known in Hebrew as Bituach Leumi, will base its estimate on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics regarding the last three published months, August to October. Over those months, the average wage among Israel and non-Israeli workers was 13,135 shekels, or about $3,600.
In order to balance the 2025 budget, the Ministry of Finance sought to freeze the minimum wage at the 2024 rate. That decision would also have affected government benefits, which are generally based on the average wage (such as benefits for disabled people, older people, new immigrants, and military orphans and widows.) But following negotiations with the Histadrut, the Ministry of Finance withdrew this intention.
This article was translated from Hebrew by Ronen Cohen.