Israeli mortgage glossary
The Hebrew words you will hear at the bank, explained in plain language with an example and an official source.
Mashkanta (mortgage)
משכנתא
A mashkanta is an Israeli mortgage: a bank loan secured by a lien on the property and usually split into several tracks. Banks may lend up to 75% of the price of a single home, for at most 30 years.
Tamhil (mortgage mix)
תמהיל
The tamhil is the mix of tracks that makes up your mortgage. By Bank of Israel rule at most 66.66% of the loan may be at a variable rate, so at least 33.34% must be fixed (Kalatz, Katz or the Zakaut loan).
Ribit (interest rate)
ריבית
Ribit is the interest rate on a loan. In an Israeli mortgage it is set per track: fixed for the whole term, or variable and reset from time to time. It is quoted per year and is separate from indexation to the Madad.
Keren (loan principal)
קרן
Keren is the principal: the amount you actually borrowed, before interest and indexation. Each monthly payment repays some keren and pays some interest, and early in the loan most of it is interest.
Hon atzmi (own funds)
הון עצמי
Hon atzmi is your own money in the purchase. Since a bank may lend at most 75% of the price of a single home (70% replacement, 50% investment or foreign resident), you need at least 25% of the price in own funds, plus taxes and fees.
Prime (Bank of Israel rate + 1.5%)
פריים
Prime is the Bank of Israel's rate plus 1.5 percentage points, by market convention. A Prime track pays Prime plus or minus your bank's margin, and its payment changes whenever the Bank of Israel changes its rate.
Kalatz (fixed unindexed rate)
קל"צ
Kalatz (kvuah lo tzmuda) is a fixed-rate, non-indexed track: the rate and the monthly payment stay the same for the whole term, with no exposure to the Bank of Israel rate or to inflation.
Katz (fixed CPI-indexed rate)
קבועה צמודה
Katz (kvuah tzmuda) is a fixed-rate track linked to the Madad: the interest rate never changes, but the balance, and with it the payment, rises with inflation. It counts as a fixed track for the 66.66% rule.
Matz (variable CPI-indexed rate)
משתנה צמודה
Matz (mishtaneh tzmuda) is a variable-rate track linked to the Madad: its rate is reset every few years from government bond yields and its balance follows inflation, so you carry both risks.
Madad (Consumer Price Index)
מדד
The Madad is Israel's Consumer Price Index, published monthly by the Central Bureau of Statistics, normally on the 15th. On indexed mortgage tracks your balance moves with it, so inflation raises what you owe.
Zakaut (state eligibility mortgage)
זכאות
Zakaut is the state eligibility mortgage of the Ministry of Construction and Housing for people who qualify by points, including olim for 15 years from receiving immigrant status. Its rate is fixed, CPI-linked and capped at 3%.
Ishur ekroni (approval in principle)
אישור עקרוני
An ishur ekroni (approval in principle) is a bank's written offer of a mortgage, with the rate of each track, given before you sign anything and at no cost. Banks must answer within 5 business days and keep the terms for at least 24 days.
LTV (loan-to-value, shiur mimun)
שיעור מימון
LTV (loan-to-value, shiur mimun) is the loan divided by the property's value. Directive 329 caps it at 75% for a single home, 70% for a replacement home and 50% for an investment property or a foreign resident.
PTI (payment-to-income, shiur hachzer mehachnasa)
שיעור החזר מהכנסה
PTI is the monthly mortgage payment divided by disposable income. Directive 329 forbids loans above 50%, and above 40% the bank must hold more capital against the loan, so it usually refuses or charges more.
Spitzer (equal-payment schedule)
לוח שפיצר
Spitzer is the standard Israeli repayment schedule: equal monthly payments over the whole term (on a fixed unindexed track), with mostly interest at first and more and more principal as the loan ages.
Keren shava (equal-principal schedule)
קרן שווה
Keren shava repays the same amount of principal every month plus interest on the shrinking balance, so the first payment is the highest and payments fall over time. It costs less interest than Spitzer.
Grace (repayment deferral)
גרייס
A grace loan postpones repayment for an initial period. Partial grace defers only principal (you pay interest), full grace defers principal and interest. Afterwards it is repaid by the Spitzer schedule.
Early repayment fee (amlat pira'on mukdam)
עמלת פירעון מוקדם
The early repayment fee is what the bank may charge when you repay a housing loan early. Its main part, the capitalization fee, applies only if today's average rate is below both your loan's rate and the average rate when you borrowed. Prime and the Zakaut loan carry none.
Michzur (refinancing)
מחזור
Michzur is refinancing: repaying all or part of a mortgage with a new loan, at the same bank or another. It pays off when the new rate is clearly lower than the old one, after the early repayment fee.
Shamai (property appraiser)
שמאי
A shamai is the certified appraiser who values the property for the bank. The bank may charge you its actual cost or its listed fee, whichever is lower, must give you the report, and you can reuse a recent appraisal within 90 days.
Bituach chaim (mortgage life insurance)
ביטוח חיים
Bituach chaim (life insurance) on a mortgage pays the debt to the bank if the borrower dies. A bank may require it, up to the loan amount, only if it is the irrevocable beneficiary, and you may buy it outside the bank.
Bituach mivne (mortgage property insurance)
ביטוח מבנה
Bituach mivne (property insurance) covers the structure of the mortgaged home. The bank may require it, with itself as irrevocable beneficiary, but not for more than the adjusted loan balance, and you may buy it outside the bank.
Rishum mashkanta (mortgage registration)
רישום משכנתא
Rishum mashkanta is registering the bank's mortgage on the property at the Land Registry (Tabu), which gives the bank a registered claim on it. The bank usually requires it, or a caveat, before it releases the loan.
Tabu (Land Registry)
טאבו
The Tabu is Israel's Land Registry, the official record of who owns a property and of the liens, mortgages, caveats and court orders on it. A Tabu extract shows the bank's lien and any claims against the property.
Mas rechisha (purchase tax)
מס רכישה
Mas rechisha is the purchase tax the buyer pays to the Israel Tax Authority, in brackets. In 2026 a resident's only home pays 0% up to ₪1,978,745; an oleh buying a single home within 7 years pays 0% up to ₪1,978,745, then 0.5% up to ₪6,055,070.