Israel’s Bituach Leumi runs three safety nets on top of the basic ₪1,838 old-age pension, all at January 1, 2026 rates. The income supplement (hashlamat hachnasa) tops up a low-income single retiree to a guaranteed ₪4,375 a month (₪4,418 from age 70, ₪4,460 from 80) and a couple to between ₪6,912 and ₪7,048; about 25% of Israeli pensioners receive it. Survivor pensions pay a widow or widower ₪1,838 a month from age 50 (₪1,381 at ages 40 to 49), ₪2,700 with one child and ₪3,562 with two, plus ₪1,142 to ₪2,284 per orphan. A widowed old-age pensioner keeps the full old-age pension plus half the survivors’ pension, ₪919. The general disability pension (up to ₪4,771 a month) ends at retirement age but converts to an old-age pension at the higher of the two amounts, so a disabled retiree never falls back to ₪1,838.
The basic old-age pension was never designed to live on. If your only income is ₪1,838 a month, if your spouse has died, or if you have spent years on a disability pension and 67 is approaching, you are dealing with three separate Bituach Leumi systems, each with its own claim form, its own income test, and its own trap. This page gives you all three at the 2026 rates: who qualifies, exactly how much, and the rules that decide whether you get the full amount or a fraction. It sits inside our guide to retirement age and Bituach Leumi in Israel; the standard pension itself, with its seniority and deferral increments, is covered in Bituach Leumi old-age pension: eligibility, amounts, and supplements.
The income supplement: the real floor is ₪4,375, not ₪1,838
The income supplement for low-income retirees (hashlamat hachnasa) is a means-tested top-up paid together with the old-age pension. It is not a separate cheque: Bituach Leumi guarantees a total monthly floor, and the supplement bridges the gap between your pension and that floor. About one in four Israeli pensioners receives it.
| Household | Under 70 | Ages 70 to 79 | Ages 80 and up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | ₪4,375 | ₪4,418 | ₪4,460 |
| Couple | ₪6,912 | ₪6,981 | ₪7,048 |
| Individual + 1 child | ₪7,305 | ₪7,374 | ₪7,442 |
| Individual + 2 children | ₪8,426 | ₪8,496 | ₪8,563 |
| Couple + 2 children | ₪9,156 | ₪9,226 | ₪9,292 |
Our estimate: a single retiree under 70 with no other income receives a top-up of ₪2,537 a month on top of the basic pension (the ₪4,375 floor minus the ₪1,838 basic rate), worth ₪30,444 a year.
The catch is the income test, and it counts almost everything:
- Pension and other non-work income: up to ₪1,790 a month (individual) or ₪2,823 (couple) is ignored. Every shekel above that cuts the supplement shekel for shekel. Unlike the old-age pension’s own income test, this one counts occupational and foreign pensions in full.
- Work income: up to ₪3,236 (individual) or ₪3,786 (couple) is allowed; above that, the supplement shrinks by 60 agorot per shekel earned.
- Savings: deposits and provident balances up to ₪41,528 (individual) or ₪62,292 (couple) are ignored; larger balances generate imputed income at Bank of Israel rates.
- Car: one vehicle worth under ₪65,343 is fine. Two vehicles, or one above the threshold, disqualify in most cases.
- Residence: you must live in Israel (short absences allowed with prior notice to BTL); kibbutz and cooperative moshav members are excluded.
The old-age pension itself stops being income-tested at 70, but the supplement is means-tested at every age. Two quiet perks come with it: the health insurance deduction from your pension drops from ₪237 to ₪123 a month, and supplement recipients qualify for up to a 100% arnona exemption on up to 100 square meters of their home (apply at the municipality by March 31 with BTL Form 1514). Claim the supplement with form 7101 at your BTL branch; it is usually assessed together with the old-age pension claim, and it recalculates automatically when your income changes or a spouse dies, provided you report it. What these floors actually buy each month is mapped in our monthly retirement budget for Israel.
Survivor pensions: what the family of an insured resident receives
Survivor pensions (kitzvat sheirim) go to the widow, widower, and orphans of an insured Israeli resident, alongside a one-time survivors’ grant and free basic burial. The deceased must have completed one of four insurance periods: 12 months immediately before death, 24 months within the last 5 years, 60 months within the last 10 years, or 144 months total at any point. No qualifying period is required if death came within a year of first becoming a resident, before age 19, or if the deceased was the family’s main earner.
| Recipient (January 2026) | Monthly pension |
|---|---|
| Widow or widower, ages 40 to 49, no children | ₪1,381 |
| Widow or widower, age 50 and up, no children | ₪1,838 |
| Widow or widower, age 80 and up | ₪1,941 |
| Widow or widower with 1 child | ₪2,700 |
| Widow or widower with 2 children | ₪3,562 |
| Each child beyond 2 (no cap) | +₪862 |
| Single orphan, one parent deceased | ₪1,142 |
| Two or more orphans, one parent deceased (per child) | ₪862 |
| Orphan, both parents deceased (per child) | ₪2,284 |
A seniority increment adds 2% per insurance year of the deceased, up to 50%. A widow of a 35-year contributor therefore receives ₪2,757 at age 50 and up, not ₪1,838. Orphans qualify until 18 (20 if still in post-elementary studies or a recognized learning-disability framework, 22 during compulsory IDF service), and the family can also claim Bar and Bat Mitzvah grants, study grants, and a marriage grant for orphans. The one-time grant arrives automatically; the monthly pension requires a claim at a BTL branch.
One pathway matters enormously for Anglo families: if the deceased made aliyah after age 60 and never built up a qualifying period, the family is outside standard survivors’ insurance, but a special survivors’ benefit pays the same rates (without the seniority increment), subject to an income test. File the dedicated special-benefit claim form with the immigration documents.
Widow and widower benefits: three rules that set your real number
Widow and widower benefits draw on the same rate table but enter through different doors, and the amount most people actually receive is decided by rules that rarely make it into the brochure.
Rule one: who gets in. A widow qualifies if the marriage or common-law partnership lasted at least 1 year (6 months if she was 55 or older), or if the couple had a child. She is entitled at any age with a dependent child, and from age 40 without one. A widower needs a dependent orphan entitled to the pension, or income below a BTL ceiling set at roughly 57% of the average wage. Our estimate: that ceiling works out to about ₪7,590 a month (57% of the ₪13,316 average wage used for 2025 to 2026 benefit calculations). Remarriage ends the pension for both, though it can be restored if the new marriage ends, and cohabitation is treated like marriage on the way in and the way out.
Rule two: the two pensions do not stack. When a widow or widower reaches old-age pension age, this is what actually happens:
| Your situation at retirement age | What Bituach Leumi pays |
|---|---|
| You have a complete insurance record of your own | Your full old-age pension plus half the survivors’ pension, ₪919 a month |
| You do not yet have a complete record | The full survivors’ pension until you qualify, then old-age plus the ₪919 half |
| Housewife at 70 who cannot take the half pension | Your choice between the two benefits |
Rule three: low-income survivors get the same guaranteed floors as retirees. A widow or widower with low income is topped up to ₪4,375 a month under 70 (₪4,418 at 70 to 79, ₪4,460 at 80 and up), ₪7,305 with one child, ₪8,426 with two. The test is tighter than the retiree version on work income: a widow with no children may earn only ₪1,100 a month (₪3,786 with a child), with a combined work-plus-pension ceiling of ₪3,236 and the same ₪41,528 savings and ₪65,343 vehicle limits.
Disability benefits in retirement: the amount survives, the label changes
Disability benefits in retirement follow one master rule: the general disability pension (kitzvat nechut klalit) stops at retirement age, and Bituach Leumi automatically replaces it with an old-age pension at the higher of the two amounts. The full disability pension is ₪4,771 a month and the basic old-age pension is ₪1,838, so nearly every former disability pensioner keeps receiving the disability-level amount under a new name. Our estimate: the higher-of rule protects ₪2,933 a month, ₪35,196 a year, for a full-incapacity pensioner crossing retirement age (the ₪4,771 disability rate minus the ₪1,838 basic old-age rate, both January 2026 figures).
Before retirement age, the disability pension requires a medical disability of at least 60% set by a BTL medical board (40% weighted across multiple impairments where one is at least 25%, or 50% for homemakers) plus a loss of at least half your earning capacity, meaning you cannot earn more than 60% of the average wage. The 2026 monthly rates: ₪4,771 at full incapacity, ₪3,211 at 74%, ₪2,894 at 65%, ₪2,718 at 60%. A child adds up to ₪1,214 and a spouse earning ₪7,848 a month or less adds up to ₪1,518, so full incapacity with a spouse increment reaches ₪6,289. Severe cases assessed at 100% incapacity for at least 6 months are paid from day 31 instead of day 91. Disability pensions track the average wage rather than the CPI, which is why they rose 3.4% in January 2026 while old-age and survivor benefits rose 2.4%.
Crossing retirement age, watch four things:
- The conversion is automatic, but the ₪1,518 disability spouse increment does not carry over; the old-age spouse increment of ₪924 applies instead, under the same ₪7,848 spouse-income ceiling.
- Seniority increments on the old-age side still count. If they lift the old-age pension above your old disability amount, you receive the higher figure.
- The income supplement combines with the converted pension under the standard tests above, floors included.
- The attendance allowance for the severely disabled who need personal care is not capped at retirement age: it continues as long as the care need does, at ₪1,943 to ₪9,126 a month by level, ₪10,774 with the ventilator supplement. The care need is reassessed periodically, so confirm continuation with BTL as you cross 67.
If disability arrives only after retirement age, the 2021 Disability Reform added a disability supplement paid on top of the old-age pension for pensioners a BTL medical board recognizes as disabled; it is claimed through BTL and graded by disability level. Severely disabled olim who arrived after 60 have a parallel special benefit at attendance-allowance rates.
Five terms, one line each
- Hashlamat hachnasa: the means-tested income supplement that tops the pension up to a guaranteed monthly floor.
- Kitzvat sheirim: the survivors’ pension paid to the widow, widower, or orphans of an insured resident.
- Kitzvat nechut klalit: the general disability pension, paid from age 18 until retirement age.
- Tosefet vatik: the seniority increment, 2% per insurance year, capped at 50%.
- Form 7101: the Bituach Leumi claim form for the income supplement.
Run this check before you file anything
- Count every income source the supplement counts: occupational and foreign pensions above ₪1,790 a month (individual) cut it shekel for shekel, even though the old-age pension’s own income test ignores them.
- Add up assets against the ₪41,528 individual and ₪62,292 couple savings thresholds and the one-car ₪65,343 rule before BTL asks, not after.
- Widowed and near retirement age: have BTL calculate both routes (full survivors’ pension versus old-age plus the ₪919 half) before anything is set by default.
- On disability and approaching 67: confirm the conversion applied the higher-of rule and that any attendance allowance continues.
- Once the supplement is approved: claim the arnona exemption at your municipality by March 31 with Form 1514, and check your health deduction fell from ₪237 to ₪123.
Questions widows, widowers, and disabled retirees actually ask
Does a foreign pension kill the income supplement?
Above ₪1,790 a month for an individual (₪2,823 for a couple), yes, shekel for shekel. A US Social Security payment of $1,000 a month is about ₪3,000 at the ₪3.00 rate, which alone erases ₪1,210 of a single retiree’s ₪2,537 top-up.
Can I receive the survivors’ and old-age pensions in full at the same time?
No. With your own complete insurance record you receive the full old-age pension plus half the survivors’ pension, ₪919 a month. Without one, you keep the full survivors’ pension until you qualify.
I remarried. Is the survivors’ pension gone for good?
It stops on remarriage, including common-law partnership, but it can be restored under certain conditions if the new marriage ends.
Does the disability pension continue after retirement age?
It converts to an old-age pension at the higher of the two amounts, so a full-incapacity pensioner keeps the ₪4,771 level rather than dropping to ₪1,838.
My spouse made aliyah at 63 and died. Do I get anything?
Yes: the special survivors’ benefit pays the standard widow and orphan rates, income-tested and without the seniority increment. It requires its own claim form plus immigration documents.
Verify every number yourself
Every figure on this page is the official Bituach Leumi rate effective January 1, 2026 (CPI-linked benefits rose 2.4%; wage-linked disability rose 3.4%). Last verified: July 2026. Check the source tables directly: income supplement amounts, widow and widower pension rates, disability pension rates, and the 2026 benefit update. The BTL helpline inside Israel is *6050, and the calculator at btl.gov.il simulates your expected old-age pension before you retire.
Your one move this week
These benefits set your income floor; housing sets your cost floor, and it is the only one of the two you fully control. If a supplement-level income has you weighing whether to sell, rightsize, or move closer to family, start with the numbers, not the listings: our complete guide to retiring in Israel covers the whole picture, and tell us what you are planning and we will map your realistic housing options, from freeing up capital in an oversized apartment to buying near your children without breaking the income test.
