When does each sal klita installment actually arrive?
Your absorption basket lands in a fixed sequence, all keyed to your aliyah date: a small cash payment handed to you at Ben Gurion airport on the day you land, a larger transfer once you open an Israeli bank account in your first days, and then six monthly installments paid directly into that account between the 1st and 15th of each month across months one through six14. It is a tax-free grant, not a loan, and crucially it is not means-tested, eligibility is not related to your income1, so taking a job in month two does not reduce a single shekel of what remains. That last fact is the part most newcomers get wrong, and it changes how you should plan the money you bring from home.
Here is the cross-border reason the schedule matters. Coming from the US, UK, Canada, or South Africa, your instinct is to convert your savings to shekels the moment you arrive so you have "Israeli money." But the basket already gives you a predictable shekel runway for six months. Almost every new oleh is blindsided that the airport cash is only a fraction of the total, not a lump sum to live on, so they panic-convert their entire home-country nest egg at one day's exchange rate. Knowing exactly when each installment lands lets you do the opposite: let the basket cover the early months and convert your foreign savings in tranches, on your timetable rather than the airport's.
Not advice
What is the exact payment sequence, step by step?
The basket is paid in three distinct stages, not one transfer. The סל קליטה (Sal Klita) begins with a cash payment at the airport to tide you over the first hours, continues with a bank-opening transfer once you give משרד הקליטה (Misrad HaKlita) (the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration) your Israeli account details, and finishes with six equal monthly installments over your first six months in the country14. This is why opening a bank account in week one matters so much: every stage after the airport flows to that account, and a missing account number stalls the whole chain.
| Stage | When (from aliyah date) | How it is paid | Single adult (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airport payment | Day 0, on landing at Ben Gurion | Cash in hand | NIS 1,2503 |
| Bank-opening transfer | First days, after you give Misrad HaKlita your account details | Wire to your Israeli account | NIS 1,5443 |
| Monthly installments ×6 | Months 1-6, paid between the 1st and 15th of each month | Bank transfer to your account | NIS 3,150 each34 |
| Six-month total | Across months 0-6 | - | ≈ NIS 21,6943 |
If you leave Israel during the first six months, payments pause and then reinstate automatically within about 14 days of your return, provided you come back within the first year4. The basket is administered by Misrad HaKlita; in practice the early disbursement is coordinated with the Jewish Agency and ביטוח לאומי (Bituach Leumi) (the National Insurance Institute), which is why you register with all of them in your first weeks.
How much do single, couple, and family olim receive?
The total depends on your family status and your children's ages, and the per-stage cash is only a sliver of the whole. As of January 2026 a single adult receives roughly NIS 21,700 over the six months, a married couple roughly NIS 41,400, and a single parent roughly NIS 35,100, with each child adding a top-up that varies by age band3. The airport cash and bank-opening transfer together are well under NIS 3,000 for a single person3, proof that the basket is a six-month runway, not a landing bonus.
| Status | Six-month total (approx.) | Each monthly installment |
|---|---|---|
| Single adult | NIS 21,6943 | NIS 3,150 |
| Married couple | NIS 41,3593 | NIS 5,806 |
| Single parent | NIS 35,0713 | NIS 5,190 |
| Each child, age 0-4 | +NIS 12,8313 | Spread across the six months |
| Each child, age 4-17 | +NIS 8,5213 | Spread across the six months |
Children do not receive a separate basket; their amounts are folded into the family payment. For precise numbers tied to your exact ages and status, the Ministry's own calculator is the authority, the figures above are the published 2026 reference points3.
Is the absorption basket taxable, and does a job reduce it?
No on both counts: the basket is a tax-free grant and it is not means-tested, so working does not reduce it. Eligibility for the absorption basket is not related to the amount of income1, which means you can start a job in month two, earn a full salary, and still receive every remaining installment in full. This is genuinely different from the income-support schemes newcomers know from home, where earnings claw back the benefit. Here, salary and basket run on separate tracks.
Do not confuse the basket with two other things that are conditional. The optional months 7-12 extension (lower payments) depends on enrolling in a recognised ulpan with strong attendance, and דמי קיום (dmei kiyum) (a living allowance some olim receive afterwards) has its own rules. The core six-month basket itself, though, lands regardless of whether you have found work1.
How should the schedule change when I convert my foreign savings?
Let the basket buy you time, and convert your home-country money in tranches rather than all at once on arrival. Because six predictable shekel payments are already covering a slice of your living costs through month six, you are not forced to sell your foreign savings into מטבע חוץ (matbea chutz) (foreign currency) conversions at a single day's rate. In your home country you would never time a whole life's savings to one Tuesday's exchange rate; the basket gives you that same patience here. Spreading conversions across the first months smooths your average שער חליפין (sha'ar chalafin) (exchange rate) and lets you react to fee structures and rate moves instead of a deadline.
Two mistakes drain the basket's value. The first is spending the whole thing on furniture and appliances in month one, the grant is meant to bridge six months of rent, food, and transport while you find work, not to furnish an apartment in week one. The second is parking it in a zero-interest חשבון עובר ושב (Cheshbon Over VeShav) (current account) and forgetting it. Money you will not need until month four or five can sit in a short, liquid shekel deposit instead of earning nothing. The point is to make the runway last, not to consume it on day one.
A note for US-citizen olim
Does my home country tax the basket or care about the timing?
The basket is an Israeli grant, and how your home country treats it depends entirely on your passport and your residence status there, the two ledgers are separate. Below is the contrast. The recurring theme: UK, Canadian, and South African olim who properly break home tax residence generally fall outside their home tax authority for non-home income, while US citizens keep filing with the IRS no matter how long they live in Israel.
Quick check
You land in month 0, receive the airport cash, and start a salaried job in month 2. What happens to your remaining sal klita installments?
Eligibility for the basket is not tied to your income.
The absorption basket (sal klita) arrives in a fixed sequence keyed to your aliyah date: a small cash payment at Ben Gurion airport on landing (roughly NIS 1,250 for a single adult), a larger bank-opening transfer once you provide your Israeli account details (about NIS 1,544), then six monthly installments paid between the 1st and 15th of each month across months one to six (around NIS 3,150 each for a single person). It is a tax-free grant, not a loan, and it is not means-tested, so taking a job in month two does not cut a single shekel of the remaining installments. A single adult receives roughly NIS 21,700 over six months, a couple roughly NIS 41,400, and a single parent roughly NIS 35,100, with per-child top-ups by age band. Because the shekels land on a known schedule, you do not need to convert all your foreign savings at one day's exchange rate; let the basket cover the early months and convert your home-country money in tranches.
Only a small cash portion. For a single adult, that is roughly NIS 1,250 in cash at Ben Gurion, with a further bank-opening transfer of about NIS 1,544 once you provide your Israeli account details. The bulk of the basket, six monthly installments of around NIS 3,150 for a single person, arrives over months one to six. Treat the airport cash as taxi-and-first-night money, not your living budget.
The six monthly installments are paid between the 1st and 15th of each month, transferred directly into your Israeli bank account across your first six months in the country. Because the exact date within that window can vary, do not schedule a rent payment for the 1st assuming the basket has already cleared. Leave yourself a buffer in the early months.
No. It is a government grant, not earned income, and eligibility is not related to the amount of income you have, so it does not reduce as you start earning and you do not pay Israeli income tax on it. It is not a loan either, so you keep it regardless of whether you find work. How your home country treats a foreign government grant is a separate question that depends on your passport and residence status.
Not necessarily. Because the basket delivers shekels on a known six-month schedule, you have a runway that lets you convert your home-country savings in stages rather than at one day's exchange rate. Spreading conversions smooths your average rate and lets you compare fees across transfer providers. Keep enough in shekels for immediate costs, and stage the rest as the rate and your spending dictate.
Spending it all on furniture and appliances in month one, and leaving it idle in a zero-interest current account. The basket is designed to cover six months of living costs while you settle, learn Hebrew, and find work. Money you will not need until month four or five can sit in a short, liquid shekel deposit instead of earning nothing, and big one-off purchases can wait until you have a salary alongside the basket.
They pause while you are abroad and reinstate automatically within about 14 days of your return, as long as you come back within the first year of receiving new-immigrant status. Return after that window and the remaining payments are generally discontinued. Plan any long trips abroad in the first six months with this pause in mind so the sequence is not interrupted.
The absorption basket is a benefit of the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration (Misrad HaKlita), and the early disbursement is coordinated with the Jewish Agency and the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi). In practice you register with Misrad HaKlita, give them your bank details, and the installments flow to your account. Register in your first weeks so a missing account number does not stall the chain.
