Men in Israel reach state retirement age at 67. Women retire between 62 and 65 depending on birth year: 63 if born in 1962, 63 years and 3 months if born in 1963, rising 3 months per cohort until everyone born in 1970 or later retires at 65. The basic Bituach Leumi old-age pension in 2026 is ₪1,838 a month for an individual and ₪2,762 for a couple, paid on the 28th of each month. Between retirement age and 70, work income above ₪10,113 a month shrinks the pension; from age 70 it is paid in full no matter what you earn. There is no early claiming, but every deferred year adds 5%, and a long contribution record adds up to 50% more. In January 2026 old-age benefits rose 2.4% with inflation, after a January 2025 contribution hike of roughly 1.6 percentage points.
The reason retirement dates feel confusing in Israel is that “retirement age” is really three different ages: the age your employer can ask you to leave, the age Bituach Leumi starts paying you, and the age it pays you in full with no questions about your income. Women get a fourth complication: the answer moves with your birth year until 2032. This page gives you every number on one screen. It sits inside our full guide to retiring in Israel, which covers everything beyond the pension itself.
Men: the answer is 67, and 70 is the number that really matters
The official retirement age for men in Israel is 67, fixed by the Retirement Age Law, 5764-2004. That is also the mandatory retirement age, the point at which an employer may require you to stop working, but since the 2012 Weinberger ruling of the National Labour Court, no employer can force retirement automatically: they must hold an individual hearing first.
To receive any old-age pension you need a contribution record: 144 months (12 years) cumulative, or 60 months within the 10 years before retirement. From 67 to 70 your pension is income-tested against work earnings. At 70, the test disappears and the full pension is paid regardless of what you earn. Turning 67 also unlocks free public transport nationwide on a Rav-Kav senior profile, one of the few age benefits that arrives with zero paperwork beyond activating the card.
Women: your birth year is the whole answer
The official retirement age for women is set by date of birth, because a 2021 reform is phasing it up from 62 to 65. Find your row:
| Birth year | Bituach Leumi retirement age |
|---|---|
| Before 1960 | 62 |
| 1960 | 62 years, 4 months |
| 1961 | 62 years, 8 months |
| 1962 | 63 |
| 1963 | 63 years, 3 months |
| 1964 | 63 years, 6 months |
| 1965 | 63 years, 9 months |
| 1966 | 64 |
| 1967 | 64 years, 3 months |
| 1968 | 64 years, 6 months |
| 1969 | 64 years, 9 months |
| 1970 and later | 65 (final target) |
Your birth month refines the exact date, so run the Bituach Leumi online calculator for the precise day. Two more numbers women should know: the mandatory retirement age (when an employer can require you to leave, after a hearing) is 67, same as men, and the age at which the income test disappears is 70 for any woman born May 1950 or later.
The rules keep moving until 2032
The upcoming retirement-age changes affect women only. The Knesset passed the reform on 4 November 2021 in two phases: women born 1960 to 1962 saw their retirement age rise 4 months per birth-year cohort, and women born 1963 to 1969 are now adding 3 months per cohort, a schedule that runs through roughly 2032 before settling at 65 for everyone born from January 1970. Men’s retirement age stays at 67; no bill to raise it exists as of mid-2026, though fiscal analysts keep floating the idea.
The state softened the blow with a transition grant (maanak maavar) for women born between January 1960 and December 1966, covering the first 4 months after the 62nd birthday, plus extended unemployment benefits for ages 57 to 67 since January 2022. Even so, the reform has a real price. Our estimate: a woman born in 1963 now waits 15 months past the old age of 62, which at the 2026 individual rate of ₪1,838 a month is ₪27,570 in pension she no longer receives; the 4-month transition grant claws back about ₪7,352 of that, leaving her roughly ₪20,200 behind the pre-reform rules.
Retiring early: the state pension will not come with you
The early retirement rules for the state pension are blunt: there are none. Bituach Leumi has no reduced-pension-for-early-claiming option. A man cannot claim before 67 and a woman cannot claim before her birth-year age, full stop. But two parallel routes make earlier retirement workable:
- Your occupational pension opens at 60. Israel’s mandatory workplace pension can be drawn from age 60 (with actuarial reductions for starting early), and drawing it does not trigger the Bituach Leumi income test, because the state pension has not started yet. To take money as a lump sum rather than a monthly annuity, you must first secure an annuity of at least ₪5,422 a month (2026 threshold). How this interacts with Israeli tax is a topic of its own, covered in our guide to pensions, taxes, and financial planning for retirees in Israel.
- Disability pension as a bridge. If health forces you out of work before retirement age, the Bituach Leumi disability pension (₪4,771 a month at the full individual rate in 2026) carries you to retirement age, at which point Bituach Leumi automatically pays whichever is higher, the disability pension or the old-age pension. You never lose income in the switch.
The protection runs the other way too: an employer who pushes you out before 67 is committing age discrimination under the Equal Opportunities in Employment Law (1988), and you can challenge it.
Working past retirement age: claim now or bank 5% a year
The delayed retirement rules are where Israel actively pays you to wait. Between retirement age and 70, only work income is tested: occupational pensions, private pensions, rent, dividends, and all foreign pensions including US Social Security are ignored. Above ₪10,113 a month (single) or ₪13,484 (couple), the pension drops by 60% of the excess, down to a floor of 10% of the basic rate.
| Claim at retirement age | Defer to 70 | |
|---|---|---|
| Best when | Work income under ₪10,113/month | Work income well above the ceiling |
| What you get | ₪1,838 base now, plus any seniority increment | Base plus 5% for each deferred year, from 70, for life |
| Income test | Applies until 70 | Irrelevant: it vanishes at 70 |
| Deferring 67 to 70 adds | Nothing | 15% for life, on top of seniority |
Our estimate of why deferral usually wins for high earners: a 68-year-old earning ₪12,000 a month is ₪1,887 over the ceiling, so his pension is cut by 60% of that (₪1,132), shrinking ₪1,838 to about ₪706 a month. Skipping that reduced pension instead banks a 5% permanent raise per year. Stack every increment and the ceiling is high: with the maximum 50% seniority boost (2% per insurance year after year 10, capped at 35 years) plus the full 15% deferral from 67 to 70, our estimate of the maximum individual pension is about ₪3,170 a month (₪1,838 × 1.5 × 1.15), against the ₪1,838 base.
What actually changed at Bituach Leumi in 2025 and 2026
The recent Bituach Leumi benefit changes cut in both directions. In January 2025, contribution rates rose by roughly 1.6 percentage points as a war-budget measure: an average earner takes home about ₪60 a month less, and the self-employed rate on the lower income band rose from about 2.87% to 4.47%. Child allowances were frozen for 2025, with indexation restored in 2026. Then on 1 January 2026, benefits were indexed on two tracks: CPI-linked benefits, including the old-age pension and income supplement, rose 2.4%, while wage-linked disability pensions rose 3.4%, a gap Bituach Leumi itself has flagged as pressure to raise the floor for the elderly.
| Household | Basic old-age pension, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Individual | ₪1,838/month |
| Individual, 80+ | ₪1,941/month |
| Couple | ₪2,762/month |
| Couple, 80+ | ₪2,865/month |
Health insurance is deducted at source: ₪237 a month for an individual, ₪340 for a couple, so the base amount actually deposited on the 28th is ₪1,601 and ₪2,422. If your total falls below the guaranteed floor (₪4,375 a month for a single person under 70), the income supplement tops you up, and about a quarter of Israeli pensioners receive it. The full mechanics of who qualifies for what sit in two dedicated guides: old-age pension eligibility, amounts, and supplements and income supplement, survivor, and disability benefits in Israel.
One cloud on the horizon: the State Comptroller has warned that on current trends Bituach Leumi cannot fully fund its commitments by about 2035. Nothing changes for today’s retirees, but the 2025 contribution hike was the first sign of that squeeze, and pension amounts should be treated as a floor to build on, not a plan. Our guide to realistic retirement budgets and the cost of living in Israel shows what the pension covers and what it does not.
Six terms, one line each
- Kitzvat zikna: the Bituach Leumi old-age pension, the state benefit this page is about.
- Retirement age: the age you may first claim the pension, subject to the income test.
- Entitlement age: the age (70 for men) at which the pension is paid in full with no income test.
- Seniority increment (tosefet vatik): +2% pension per insurance year after year 10, capped at 50%.
- Deferral increment: +5% pension for each 12-month period you did not receive it because of work income.
- Maanak maavar: the transition grant paying women born 1960 to 1966 the first 4 months after their 62nd birthday.
Before you set a date, run this check
- Confirm your exact retirement date on the Bituach Leumi calculator (women: birth month matters, not just year).
- Verify your contribution record: 144 cumulative months, or 60 within the last 10 years.
- Compare your expected work income to ₪10,113 a month, then decide: claim now or defer for 5% a year.
- Count your insurance years: every year past year 10 adds 2%, up to 50%.
- Check the spouse increment: ₪924 a month, paid only if your spouse’s income from all sources is ₪7,848 a month or less.
- If your total lands under ₪4,375 a month (single, under 70), file for the income supplement.
Quick answers
Can I get the Bituach Leumi pension before retirement age?
No. There is no early or reduced claiming. Your options before then are the occupational pension (from 60) or, if health forces the issue, the disability pension.
Does my US Social Security or foreign pension reduce my Israeli pension?
No. The income test between retirement age and 70 counts work earnings only. All pension income, Israeli or foreign, is excluded.
I made aliyah near or after retirement age. Do I get the pension?
Arriving at or after retirement age means no regular pension; instead there is a means-tested Special Old-Age Benefit for New Immigrants at the basic rate without seniority. Arriving earlier, you accrue rights like anyone else. The details live in our guide to aliyah and residency for retirees.
Can my employer force me to retire?
Not before 67, and at 67 only after an individual hearing that weighs your circumstances. Forcing you out earlier is illegal age discrimination.
Will retirement ages rise again?
For women, yes, on the legislated schedule through about 2032, ending at 65. For men, no legislation exists as of mid-2026, though the Comptroller’s 2035 funding warning keeps the question alive.
Where these numbers come from
All figures are current as of the January 2026 benefit update. Last verified: July 2026.
- Bituach Leumi: old-age pension rates
- Bituach Leumi: retirement age tables
- Bituach Leumi: 2026 benefit update
Your next step
The pension question usually comes bundled with a bigger one: where in Israel you will actually live on that income. If buying a home or apartment is part of your retirement plan, tell us what you are looking for and we will map real options against your budget, pension income included.
