15% Increase in Salaries Expected for Prime Minister, President and MKs

The start of the year would see the salaries of some of the top civil servants increase by almost 15%, which includes that of the prime minister, president and lawmakers and ministers.

The raises will also benefit judges, which come after a freeze on wages will reach its expiry in December. This freeze had been imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The raises

Esther Hayut, the Supreme Court Chief Justice is the top earner who will see a raise, as the monthly salary is expected to climb to NIS 119,000 from NIS 104,000.

There will also be a monthly increase in the salary of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to NIS 74,300 from NIS 64,673.

NIS 56,345 is the salary of the outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid, but Likud chair Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to be Lapid’s replacement, will receive a salary of NIS 64,700 from the beginning of next year.

Lapid is expected to take the position of opposition leader and he will see his salary rise to NIS 58,200 in that role from NIS 50,673 a month, which would be the same paid to government ministers.

MKs and deputy ministers are currently receiving a salary of NIS 45,274, but they will see it increase to NIS 52,000.

Supreme Court judges will see their salaries increase to NIS 92,000 per month, while district court judges and magistrate court judges will earn salaries of NIS 72,500 and NIS 58,000 a month.

The freeze

The salaries of lawmakers and senior civil servants is usually linked to the country’s average salaries, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, a freeze on salaries had been imposed in the country.

The suspension in salary increases had been put in place because many people had lost their jobs due to the coronavirus lockdowns.

Majority of these people were those who had lower salaries as compared to those in senior positions who had higher salaries.

Therefore, if the wages of civil servants had been increased, then they would have moved upwards rather sharply.

The situation

After the pandemic, the economic recovery has brought the average salary back towards its normal range.

However, it still remains about 13.5% to 15% higher than the last amount calculated before the freeze had been put in place.

October’s average salary would be used to determine the final calculation of the increase that would be made, which will be disclosed at the start of the next month.

The Finance Committee of the Knesset has the authority of reducing or increasing the salary increases for the prime minister, president, or the ministers.

The Knesset House Committee controls the MKs’s salaries and an advisory panel gives it recommendations.

According to estimates, the total raises are expected to be around NIS 130 million. The increase in salary comes as a number of people are struggling with the surge in cost of living, along with layoffs in multiple industries.

As for welfare support will see a 5% increase in the next year, as it is tied to the consumer price index.