Israeli mortgage documents are in Hebrew, and the vocabulary is where most English speakers lose the thread. These are the terms you will actually meet, in roughly the order you will meet them.
What does mashkanta mean?
Mashkanta (משכנתא) is the Hebrew word for a mortgage — a loan secured against property. It shares a root with mashkon, a pledge, because the bank registers a charge against your property at the Land Registry and removes it when the loan is repaid.
The terms
| Hebrew | English | What it actually means |
|---|---|---|
| משכנתאMashkanta (mortgage) | The Hebrew word for a mortgage: a loan secured against a property. Israeli mashkanta is normally split into several tracks with different interest bases. | |
| קל"צKalatz — fixed, not CPI-linked | Keren Lo Tzmuda, literally "not linked principal". A fixed interest rate that is not linked to the consumer price index. The most predictable track: the payment is set at signing and never moves. | |
| ק"צKatz — fixed, CPI-linked | Keren Tzmuda, "linked principal". A fixed interest rate, but the outstanding balance is linked to the consumer price index, so the shekel payment rises with inflation. | |
| ריבית פרייםPrime rate | The Bank of Israel policy rate plus 1.5 percentage points. Every change in the Bank of Israel rate moves prime immediately and by the same amount. | |
| עוגןAnchor (oggen) | The interest-rate base a track is built on — prime, a government bond yield, or another index. The bank adds its margin on top of the anchor. | |
| מרווחMargin (marvach) | The bank's markup over the anchor rate. This is the part that is negotiable, and where a broker earns their fee. | |
| תמהילMix (tamhil) | The blend of tracks that makes up one mashkanta. The Bank of Israel requires at least one third of the mix to be in a fixed-interest track. | |
| לוח שפיצרSpitzer schedule | The standard Israeli repayment method: equal total monthly payments, with the interest share falling and the principal share rising over the term. Mathematically an annuity. | |
| קרן שווהEqual principal | A repayment method where the principal is repaid in equal slices, so total payments start higher and decline. It costs less interest overall than Spitzer. | |
| גרייסGrace period | A period at the start of the loan where you pay interest only, or nothing at all. It lowers early payments but increases the total cost. | |
| בלוןBalloon | A loan where a large part of the principal is repaid at the end rather than amortised. Common in developer "pay later" deals; the Bank of Israel caps these at 10% of a bank's quarterly approvals. | |
| מדדMadad — the CPI | The consumer price index published by the Central Bureau of Statistics. "Madad-linked" means the loan balance tracks this index. | |
| אישור עקרוניIshur ekroni — pre-approval | A bank's written indication of how much it will lend you and on what terms, issued after reviewing income and documents. It typically holds for a limited period. | |
| שמאותShamaut — appraisal | An independent valuation of the property, commissioned by the bank, that sets the ceiling for how much the bank will finance. | |
| הון עצמיHon atzmi — equity | Your own cash contribution. The Bank of Israel sets minimum equity through the maximum loan-to-value ceiling for each buyer type. | |
| יחס החזרRepayment ratio (PTI) | The share of your net monthly income that goes to loan repayments. Capped at 50%; above 40% the bank must apply a 100% risk weight, which raises the rate. | |
| עמלת פירעון מוקדםEarly repayment fee | A charge for paying off a fixed or linked track ahead of schedule, calculated from the gap between your rate and current market rates. Prime-linked tracks normally carry no such fee. | |
| מחזור משכנתאMichzur — refinancing | Replacing an existing mashkanta with new terms, either with the same bank or a different one, usually to cut the rate or change the track mix. | |
| בנק ישראלBank of Israel | The central bank. Its Monetary Committee sets the policy rate, and its Supervisor of Banks sets the rules on loan-to-value, term and track mix. | |
| רפורמת השקיפותTransparency reform | Bank of Israel rules obliging banks to disclose the cost of a mortgage in a standard format, so offers can be compared like for like. | |
| עולה חדשOleh chadash — new immigrant | A new immigrant to Israel under the Law of Return, entitled to specific purchase-tax reliefs and other benefits, including in mortgage pricing. | |
| מס רכישהMas rechisha — purchase tax | The tax paid on acquiring Israeli property. The rate depends on the price, whether it is your only home, and your residency status. | |
| טאבוTabu — Land Registry | The Israeli land registry. The bank registers a mortgage charge against the property there, and the charge is removed once the loan is repaid. | |
| ביטוח חיים למשכנתאMortgage life insurance | A decreasing life policy assigned to the bank that repays the outstanding balance if the borrower dies. Effectively required by every Israeli lender. | |
| משכנתא הפוכהReverse mortgage | A loan against home equity for older owners, repaid when the property is sold or the owner vacates, rather than monthly. | |
How to use this list
Three of these terms cause more confusion than all the others combined, so they are worth reading twice before you sign anything.
תמהיל (tamhil) — the mix
Your mortgage is not one loan. It is a blend of tracks, and the blend is called the tamhil. When an Israeli adviser asks what tamhil you want, they are asking how you want to divide your borrowing between prime, fixed non-linked and CPI-linked. There is no single correct answer — it depends on your income currency, your time horizon, and how much payment uncertainty you can absorb.
קל"צ (kalatz) versus ק"צ (katz)
These two sound almost identical and behave very differently. קל"צ is fixed and not linked — the balance is a fixed number of shekels and the payment never moves. ק"צ is fixed but CPI-linked — the interest rate is fixed, but the balance grows with inflation, so the shekel payment rises. And there is a regulatory consequence: for the Bank of Israel's track-mix rule, only קל"צ counts as the protected fixed third. ק"צ is counted in the variable bucket.
עמלת פירעון מוקדם (amlat piraon mukdam) — early repayment fee
What it costs to pay off a track ahead of schedule. It is not uniform. Prime and variable tracks carry no capitalisation-difference fee, because the bank takes no interest-rate risk on them. Fixed tracks do. And on a CPI-linked track there is an "average index" component that applies only if you repay between the 1st and the 15th of the month — repay from the 16th to month-end and it does not apply at all.
The Hebrew you will see on an actual offer
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| קל"צ | kalatz | Fixed interest, not linked to the CPI |
| ק"צ | katz | Fixed interest, CPI-linked |
| מל"צ | malatz | Variable interest, not linked — resets every 18 months, 3, 5 or 10 years |
| פריים | prime | Bank of Israel rate plus 1.5 percentage points |
| מדד | madad | The Consumer Price Index |
| ריבית | ribit | Interest |
| קרן | keren | Principal |
| החזר חודשי | hechzer hodshi | Monthly repayment |
| יתרת קרן | yeteret keren | Outstanding principal balance |
| אישור עקרוני | ishur ekroni | Pre-approval — a written, non-binding bank statement of terms |
| שמאות | shamaut | Property appraisal, commissioned by the bank |
| שטר משכנתא | shetar mashkanta | The mortgage deed signed before a notary or attorney |
| טאבו | tabu | The Land Registry |
| מס רכישה | mas rechisha | Purchase tax |
| הון עצמי | hon atzmi | Equity — your own cash contribution |
| יחס החזר | yachas hechzer | Repayment-to-income ratio |
| מחזור משכנתא | michzur mashkanta | Refinancing an existing mortgage |
| עולה חדש | oleh chadash | New immigrant |
| זכאות | zakaut | Eligibility — as in the state-backed mortgage eligibility loan for olim |
Hebrew mortgage term questions
What is the difference between mashkanta and mashkon?
Both come from the same Hebrew root meaning pledge. Mashkanta (משכנתא) is the mortgage itself — the loan. A mashkon is the charge or pledge the bank registers against your property at the Land Registry, which is removed once the loan is repaid.
What is the difference between קל"צ and ק"צ?
Both are fixed-rate tracks. קל"צ (kalatz) is not linked: the balance is a fixed number of shekels and the payment never changes. ק"צ (katz) is CPI-linked: the interest rate is fixed but the balance grows with the Consumer Price Index, so the shekel payment rises with inflation. For the Bank of Israel's mix rule, only קל"צ counts as the protected fixed third — ק"צ counts as variable.
What is a tamhil?
It is the mix — the blend of tracks that makes up your mortgage. Israeli mortgages are assembled from several tracks rather than issued as a single loan, and the tamhil is how those tracks are divided. When an adviser asks what tamhil you want, they are asking how to split your borrowing between prime, fixed non-linked and CPI-linked.
What is ishur ekroni?
A pre-approval: a written, non-personalised bank statement setting out the maximum loan amount, the term, the tracks, the indicative rates, the fees and the required insurances. The bank is bound as long as you meet its conditions; you are not bound. Directive 451 requires the rate to be held for at least 12 days from issue, and market practice is 24 days.
What does amlat piraon mukdam mean?
Early repayment fee. It is not uniform across tracks. Prime-linked and variable tracks carry no capitalisation-difference fee, because the bank takes no interest-rate risk on them. Fixed tracks do. On a CPI-linked track there is also an "average index" component that applies only if you repay between the 1st and the 15th of the month — repaying from the 16th to month-end avoids it.
What is Zakaut?
A state-backed mortgage eligibility loan for new immigrants (olim chadashim), distributed through participating Israeli banks. It provides part of the mortgage on favourable terms, usually on a fixed CPI-linked track. You need a certificate of eligibility (teudat zakaut) before you approach a bank, and it covers only part of your borrowing.
Summary
Israeli mortgage vocabulary is where English speakers lose the thread, and three pairs of terms cause most of the confusion: mashkanta (the loan) versus mashkon (the registered charge); קל"צ (fixed, not linked) versus ק"צ (fixed, CPI-linked) — where only the former satisfies the Bank of Israel's protected fixed third; and amlat piraon mukdam, the early repayment fee, which prime and variable tracks do not carry at all and which can be avoided on a CPI-linked track by repaying from the 16th of the month.
