Most olim rent first
Almost every new immigrant starts by renting. Two sets of rules matter. First, the state pays olim a monthly rent subsidy for a limited time. Second, since 2017 Israeli law has given tenants real protections. This is the Fair Rental Law (chok hasechirut hahogenet, חוק השכירות ההוגנת). Formally it is an amendment to the Rental and Borrowing Law of 1971. This guide covers both, using only figures published by the ministries and the text of the law.
Rent assistance: which track you are on depends on your aliyah date
During your first months, rent is covered by the sal klita (סל קליטה, the absorption basket) paid by the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration. After that, the Ministry of Construction and Housing pays rent assistance (siyua bischar dira, סיוע בשכר דירה). It is paid automatically into the bank account that received your absorption basket. You do not need to apply, there is no income test, and you do not need to show a lease. You must hold a teudat oleh, own no apartment or part of one, and not live in public housing.
If you received oleh status on or after 1 March 2024
Assistance starts in the 7th month after you receive oleh status and runs to the 30th month, that is 24 monthly payments. Monthly amounts on the Ministry of Aliyah page, updated 15 October 2026:
- Single olim, or an oleh whose spouse is a veteran resident: ₪363 basic, plus ₪973 location supplement where it applies (total ₪1,336).
- Couples and families: ₪659 basic, plus ₪1,341 (total ₪2,000).
- Single-parent families: ₪739 basic, plus ₪1,500 (total ₪2,239).
- Olim who received status between 1 April and 31 December 2025 and live in Beit Shemesh get a different supplement: totals of ₪1,000, ₪1,500 and ₪2,000 for the three groups.
Which towns earn the location supplement depends on when you arrived. For status received 1 March 2024 to 31 March 2025: national priority areas, the Negev and the Galilee. For status from 1 April 2025: localities in the Interior Ministry's North, Haifa, South, and Judea and Samaria districts. The supplement follows the address on your ID card (sefach), and both spouses must be registered at the same address. You cannot receive two supplements at once.
- Soldiers and civil-service volunteers who enlisted within 30 months of oleh status get ₪500 a month during service. Lone soldiers get ₪750. This replaces the regular amount, for up to 36 months.
- After discharge, assistance continues for as many months as you served, up to 36.
- Graduates of the Na'ale programme get assistance from their first month of oleh status, for 30 months.
If you received oleh status by 29 February 2024
The older table still applies to you. It runs from the 8th month to the end of year 5, or year 6 for single-parent families, and the amount falls over time. Monthly amounts on the Housing Ministry page, updated 12 October 2026: singles ₪223 (months 8 to 12), ₪400 (months 13 to 48), ₪89 (months 49 to 60). Couples: ₪402, then ₪800 (months 13 to 24), ₪600 (25 to 36), ₪400 (37 to 48), ₪99 (49 to 60). Single-parent families get the couples' amounts up to month 48, then ₪223 (49 to 60) and ₪134 (61 to 72).
In both tracks, olim with low income who rent from someone who is not a relative can ask for higher, means-tested assistance through the Housing Ministry's registration companies. Under the new track this is possible after 6 months; under the old track, after 12. Questions: *2310 (olim rent assistance line).
Your rights under the Fair Rental Law
The amendment was published on 19 July 2017 and took effect 60 days later. It applies to leases signed from that date. Most of these rules cannot be waived in the contract unless the change favours the tenant. The key protections:
- Written lease: the contract must be in writing and signed, and each side gets a signed copy. It must state the address, the rent and payment dates, the lease period and any option to extend or cancel, extra payments, and any known significant defect.
- Habitable home: the landlord must hand over a home fit to live in. The law lists what makes a home unfit, such as no drainage or sewage, no electricity or lighting, no drinking-water supply, no natural light and ventilation or no lockable front door, no separation between the toilet and the flat, or an unreasonable risk to the tenant's safety or health. Handing over such a home is a breach of contract.
- Repairs: the landlord pays to fix any defect that is not trivial and not caused by your unreasonable use, within a reasonable time and no later than 30 days after you ask. If the defect makes living there unreasonable, the limit is 3 days.
- What you pay: rent, arnona (municipal tax), water, electricity, gas and heating, and the building's ongoing maintenance fee (va'ad bayit). You do not pay for buying or upgrading fixed systems, the landlord's building insurance, or the landlord's own debts.
- Broker fees: if the real-estate agent (metavech) worked for the landlord, the landlord pays the fee, not you.
- Deposit and guarantees: all security that costs you money together (cash, bank guarantee, or a guarantee from a licensed non-bank lender or insurer) may not exceed the lower of three months' rent or one third of the rent for the whole lease. The landlord may use it only for unpaid rent, unpaid bills, damage you are responsible for, or not leaving at the end, and must warn you first. It must be returned within 60 days of you handing back the keys, or once your debts are settled.
- Notice periods: if the lease lets the landlord cancel without cause, the clause is valid only if you have the same right. The landlord must give at least 90 days' notice, you at least 60. If the landlord has an option to extend, they must tell you at least 90 days before the end; if you have the option, you must tell them at least 60 days before.
Some leases are outside these rules: holiday rentals, student and worker dormitories, assisted living, protected-tenancy flats, leases of three months or less with no option to extend, leases over ten years with no early exit for the landlord, and very expensive rentals. The law set that threshold at ₪20,000 a month, indexed every January.
One recent change: the 2026 Economic Plan Law, published on 31 March 2026, updated the deposit section. The law now names guarantees from licensed non-bank lenders, licensed payment providers and insurers alongside bank guarantees and cash, and all of them count toward the same cap.
Practical tips
- Photograph the flat on move-in day and attach the photos to the lease.
- Ask for every repair in writing (WhatsApp or email is fine). The 30-day and 3-day clocks start when the landlord receives your request.
- Check that the deposit asked for is within the legal cap. On a 12-month lease at ₪6,000, the cap is ₪18,000.
- Update the address on your ID card. Your location supplement depends on it.
- Plan your budget around the date the rent assistance ends: after month 30 (new track) or year 5 (old track). The jump to full rent is a good moment to compare renting with buying in Ribit's simulator.