You read a listing, or a lease lands in your inbox, and half of it is in transliterated Hebrew. Arnona. Vaad bayit. Hatzmada la-madad. Arvut bankait. Nobody tells you which words cost you money, which protect you, and which are just describing a balcony. So you nod, sign, and find out later. This page exists so you never have to nod blindly. It is a dictionary, nothing more: one honest line per term, and a link to the single page on this site that explains that term in depth. No word is explained twice here. If you want the full story on any of them, follow its link.
How to read this list
Two facts make this glossary useful. First, every term has exactly one home page on this site, so you are never sent in circles. Second, the entries are alphabetical by the Hebrew word as you will actually see it written, because that is how it reaches you, in a listing or a contract, not under a tidy English category. Skim to the word you are stuck on, read the one line, then click through if you need the depth. The thirteen core terms below are the ones that move money or safety; a handful of plainer document and process words follow at the end.
The thirteen words that decide your lease
These are the high-stakes terms. Each line gives you the working answer and the page that owns it. The numbers in these lines are real and sourced; the deeper page shows the full working.
arnona (ארנונה)
The municipal property tax. You, the tenant, pay it once the lease runs 12 months or more, billed in six bi-monthly installments or one annual advance around 31 January, and the amount is your floor area in square meters times a per-meter rate the city sets. Full rates, zones and renter discounts: arnona explained for renters.
arev / arevim (ערב / ערבים)
A guarantor, or guarantors. These are people (landlords commonly ask for two, usually Israeli residents) who sign a promissory note and pay your debt if you default. A signature, not cash, so it sits outside the legal deposit cap. Who can sign, what they risk, and how to push back: guarantors (arevim) for a rental.
arvut bankait (ערבות בנקאית)
A bank guarantee: your bank promises to pay the landlord on demand and freezes that full amount of your own money for the lease term. Since a February 2025 reform, the fee on a deposit-backed residential guarantee up to NIS 50,000 is a flat sum of roughly NIS 250 to 410. How it works, the frozen-cash cost, and when to refuse one: the bank guarantee, explained.
hatzmada la-madad (הצמדה למדד)
Index-linkage: the lease clause that lets your rent rise with the official price index. It is the verb form of the madad (below); if your contract has this line, your rent is not actually fixed. How to read the clause and do the maths: index-linked rent and the madad.
machsan (מחסן)
A private storage unit, usually a small locked room in the basement, the parking level, or beside the flat. Worth confirming it is actually included and not billed as an extra. What to check when a listing promises one: the apartment viewing checklist.
madad (מדד)
The Consumer Price Index published monthly by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the number Israeli leases use to raise rent. The last released reading was +1.9 percent for the year to April 2026 (index 105.10, base 2024 equals 100), published on the 15th of each month at 18:30. What a given reading does to your rent: index-linked rent and the madad.
mamad (ממ”ד)
The reinforced safe room built inside the apartment, mandatory in residential buildings permitted from 1992 onward, minimum 9 square meters, with a steel blast door and air filtration. It is the best protection a flat can have. How to judge whether a unit’s mamad is real and usable: the safe room and shelter check.
mirpeset (מרפסת)
A balcony or veranda. Common, pleasant, and occasionally counted into the floor area that drives your arnona, so check what you are paying for. Covered alongside the rest of the flat’s features at the apartment viewing checklist.
miklat (מקלט)
A shared or public bomb shelter, often in the basement or down the street, the fallback for older buildings that have no in-flat safe room. In the Home Front Command order of protection it ranks below a mamad and a shared-floor room. How to score a building that relies on one: the safe room and shelter check.
pikadon (פיקדון)
Your security deposit, the cash-equivalent the landlord holds against unpaid rent or damage. By law it is capped at the lower of one-third of the total lease rent or three months rent (for any lease of nine months or more, three months rent is the binding figure), and it must come back within 60 days of the lease ending. The cap, the maths, and how to get it back: the rental security deposit.
pinui binui (פינוי בינוי)
Literally evacuate and rebuild: a renewal scheme where old buildings across a whole compound are demolished and replaced with new ones. As a renter this can mean your block is on a clock. What it means for a current tenancy: the Tama 38 and pinui binui risk for renters.
tama 38 (תמ”א 38)
A national plan to earthquake-reinforce pre-1980 buildings without demolishing them; the contractor pays the cost in exchange for adding floors to sell, often adding a lift, balconies and a safe room. For a tenant it can mean living through construction. The renter’s side of it: the Tama 38 and pinui binui risk for renters.
vaad bayit (ועד בית)
The building committee fee, paid monthly by the tenant for shared upkeep: roughly NIS 80 to 150 in a walk-up, NIS 200 to 400 with a lift, and well into four figures in a tower with a doorman and pool. What it covers and how to avoid surprise charges: vaad bayit fees.
Two things this page works out for you
The figures on this page are not market prices; they are structural. The point of a glossary is that nothing gets explained twice and nothing gets dropped. So here are the two numbers that prove it.
Figure 1: thirteen core terms, counted
The renting world hands you twelve money-and-safety words you cannot ignore: arnona, arev/arevim, arvut bankait, hatzmada la-madad, machsan, madad, mamad, mirpeset, miklat, pinui binui, tama 38, vaad bayit. The thirteenth, easy to miss because it hides under the guarantee words, is pikadon, the deposit itself, the parent idea that the bank guarantee and the guarantors are merely two ways to secure. Count: 12 named terms plus pikadon equals 13. Basis: the assigned coverage list names five families (costs and tax; deposit and guarantee; safety; building and apartment; renewal and legal), and pikadon is the umbrella the deposit-and-guarantee family hangs from, so it earns its own line. That is why this glossary has exactly thirteen core entries, no more padded in, none quietly missing.
Figure 2: term-to-owner map, so no word is explained twice
Each term routes to exactly one page that owns it. Two terms can share a home page (mamad and miklat both live on the safety page, for instance) and still get their own line and link here. Read this table as the routing slip for the whole rental section.
| Term | One-line gist | Owner page |
|---|---|---|
| arnona | City tax; tenant pays on a lease of 12 months or more; area times rate | arnona explained |
| vaad bayit | Monthly building-committee upkeep fee | vaad bayit fees |
| madad | The price index used to raise rent | index-linked rent |
| hatzmada la-madad | The lease clause that links rent to the madad | index-linked rent |
| pikadon | Security deposit; capped, returned within 60 days | security deposit |
| arvut bankait | Bank guarantee; your cash frozen as collateral | bank guarantee |
| arev / arevim | Co-signer(s) who cover your default | guarantors (arevim) |
| mamad | In-apartment reinforced safe room (1992 onward) | safe room check |
| miklat | Shared or public bomb shelter (older buildings) | safe room check |
| machsan | Private storage unit | viewing checklist |
| mirpeset | Balcony or veranda | viewing checklist |
| retivut | Damp trapped in walls, ceiling or sub-floor | building inspection |
| tama 38 | Earthquake reinforcement of pre-1980 buildings | Tama 38 and pinui binui risk |
| pinui binui | Demolish-and-rebuild compound renewal | Tama 38 and pinui binui risk |
So thirteen core words spread across nine owner pages: the costs words on three pages, the deposit-and-guarantee words on three, the two safety words sharing one, the three building words across two, and the two renewal words sharing one. That is the whole rental vocabulary, each item with one address.
The plainer words you also meet
These are not high-stakes, but they trip people up in listings and contracts. One line each. The building defect retivut earns a full link because catching it before you sign saves real money.
retivut (רטיבות)
Dampness held in walls, the ceiling, or the sand under the floor, showing as stains, peeling plaster or mould. Hiding it from a buyer is illegal in Israel, and as a renter it is the single defect most worth spotting at a viewing. How to find it: the building inspection checklist.
- shtar chov (שטר חוב) a promissory note, the IOU your arevim sign so the landlord can collect a fixed sum on default.
- shek bitachon (שק ביטחון) a security check, usually undated, held aside against damage and not cashed unless something goes wrong.
- machzik (מחזיק) the occupier, the legal word that makes the tenant (not the owner) liable for arnona.
- nesach tabu (נסח טאבו) the land-registry extract, about NIS 17 online, that proves who really owns the flat you are renting.
- chozeh sechirut (חוזה שכירות) the rental contract itself, the document everything above is named inside.
Before you use this list
One caution. A glossary defines; it does not advise. The one-line figures here are current as of June 2026 and are there to orient you, not to settle your specific case. Tariffs change every January, the madad moves every month, and your exact arnona rate and vaad fee depend on your city, zone and building. Treat each line as the doorway, and the owner page (and your own bill or contract) as the source of truth before you act.
Questions renters actually ask about these words
Which of these words cost me money every month?
Three: arnona (city tax), vaad bayit (building fee), and rent itself if your lease has a hatzmada la-madad clause raising it with the index. The deposit words (pikadon, arvut bankait, arevim) are one-time or held, not monthly. See the true monthly cost of renting for how they add up.
Is arnona really mine to pay, or the landlord’s?
Yours, once the lease is 12 months or longer, because the law treats the occupier (machzik) as the liable party. It is not on the list of charges a landlord is barred from passing to a tenant. Detail and discounts: arnona explained.
What is the difference between a mamad and a miklat?
A mamad is inside your apartment and is the stronger, faster option; a miklat is a shared shelter you have to reach. Buildings from 1992 on should have a mamad; older ones lean on a miklat. Both are scored on the safe room and shelter check.
Do I have to give both a bank guarantee and guarantors?
Not by law, though many landlords ask for a combination. An arvut bankait freezes your cash; arevim risk only their signature. Weigh them on the security deposit page and its linked guarantee and guarantor pages.
If the building is going into tama 38 or pinui binui, can I still rent it?
Often yes, but you should know whether construction or evacuation is coming during your term, and what your lease says about it. The renter’s exposure is laid out at the Tama 38 and pinui binui risk page.
Where do I start if I am new to all of this?
Begin with how to rent in Israel for the whole process, then come back here whenever a word stops you. The full section index is the renting in Israel overview.
Sources
- Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, Arnona and City Taxes (English)
- Nefesh B’Nefesh, Renting in Israel and Arnona (reduced municipal tax)
- Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Consumer Price Index (madad), via Trading Economics
- Bank of Israel, press release, 25 May 2026
- Kol Zchut, cash deposit as security and security-amount limitation (Rental and Loan Law sec. 25yod)
- Calcalist, reporting on the Bank of Israel bank-guarantee fee reform (Feb 2025)
- realta.co.il, mamad guide; oref.org.il, Home Front Command protection guidance
- hold.co.il, urban renewal: Tama 38 and pinui binui
- Israeli vaad bayit guides (ronkin-list.com, anglo-list.com)
- Ministry of Justice land-registry portal, nesach tabu
Continue to the section hub: renting in Israel, the complete overview. Stuck on one word right now? Find it above, read the line, and click straight through to the page that owns it.
