IsraelLaw
Falls from scaffolding. A back injury lifting a patient. Repetitive strain from warehouse work. A vehicle accident driving for your employer. The Israeli work injury system covers all of these — and it covers foreign nationals on the same terms as Israeli employees, provided you know what to do in the first 72 hours.
The Israeli work injury scheme runs entirely through Bituach Leumi (the National Insurance Institute, NII) rather than private insurers. Your personal health insurance from abroad is irrelevant here. Your Kupat Holim (Israeli health fund) handles medical treatment; wage compensation is NII's job. Getting both right requires knowing the order of events.
1. The Legal Framework: Two Statutes, One System
Two statutes govern work injury claims in Israel, and they do different things. One pays you; the other holds your employer accountable.
National Insurance Law 5755-1995
The National Insurance Law (Chok HaBituach HaLeumi) is the primary statute. Chapters 5 and 6 establish mandatory work injury insurance for every employee in Israel, define which injuries qualify, and set out the benefits NII pays. This is a no-fault insurance scheme: you don't need to prove your employer was negligent to receive NII benefits. You only need to show the injury happened during work within the statutory definition.
Every employer in Israel must register their employees with NII and pay monthly contributions that include a work injury insurance component. The contribution rate in 2026 is paid entirely by the employer — you pay nothing extra from your salary for this coverage. Coverage begins on the first day of employment, before any probationary period expires.
Work Safety Ordinance (Pkadat Evtihat HaAvoda) 1970
The Work Safety Ordinance runs alongside the NII scheme but serves a different purpose. It imposes specific safety obligations on employers — maintaining equipment, providing personal protective equipment, training workers, keeping workplaces structurally sound — and creates both civil and criminal liability when employers breach those duties. A worker who proves the employer violated the Ordinance can recover civil damages in court, in addition to whatever NII pays.
- National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi / NII) — pays your benefits; main portal at btl.gov.il, claim form is Tofes 250
- Work Inspection Service (Piku'ah Avoda) — Ministry of Labor unit that investigates serious accidents; employer must report within 24 hours of a serious injury or 7 days for a non-serious one; public can report violations at hotline *1299
- Regional Labor Court — jurisdiction over both NII appeals and civil negligence claims; five courts in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beer Sheva, and Nazareth
- Enforcement authority: Work Safety Ordinance 1970 (criminal fines up to NIS 226,000 per violation for employers)
2. Who Is Covered — Including B/1 Visa Holders
The National Insurance Law does not differentiate based on nationality, religion, or visa type. Coverage under the work injury chapter applies to:
- Israeli citizens and permanent residents employed by any employer
- Temporary residents on A/5 permits working for an Israeli employer
- Foreign workers on B/1 employer-sponsored work permits — the most common category for expat employees
- Seasonal and sectoral permit holders in agriculture, construction, and caregiving
- Workers from the Palestinian Authority who hold valid permits to work inside Israel's 1967 borders
- Posted workers from foreign companies who work physically in Israel, once registered
The one category not automatically covered is the genuinely self-employed worker. If you are registered in Israel as an osek (self-employed business person), work injury coverage is not automatic — you must purchase it voluntarily through NII. The premium is modest, and the coverage is identical to that available to employees. If you do any work in Israel as a freelancer or contractor and you haven't registered voluntarily, you have a gap.
Workers who are in Israel without a valid work permit are not enrolled in NII and technically fall outside the mandatory scheme. However, Israeli courts — including the National Labor Court — have repeatedly held that an undocumented worker who was effectively treated as an employee can recover NII-equivalent compensation from the employer directly, on the basis that the employer should have registered the worker. If you were injured while working without a permit, do not assume you have no claim. Consult an Israeli labor attorney specifically for this scenario; outcomes vary significantly by the industry and the degree of employer control over your work.
3. What Qualifies as a Work Injury Under Israeli Law
The National Insurance Law defines two types of work-related conditions that qualify for NII benefits: work accidents and occupational diseases.
Work Accidents (Ta'unat Avoda)
A work accident is any injury caused by a sudden, unexpected event that occurs during the performance of work, on the way to or from work, or during a break taken at or near the workplace. The statutory definition in Section 79 of the National Insurance Law is deliberately broad. Courts have recognized as work accidents: slipping on a wet floor, a machinery malfunction, a physical altercation initiated by a client, lifting injuries, and even certain stress-induced cardiac events when the link to workplace conditions is medically established.
The "commuting accident" rule (ta'unat derech) is worth highlighting separately. If you are injured traveling directly between your home and your workplace, or from your workplace to a client site you were required to visit, the injury qualifies as a work accident under Section 80 of the National Insurance Law. A significant detour for a personal errand can break the connection — but courts interpret "reasonable route" generously, particularly for workers whose jobs require travel.
Occupational Diseases (Machalat Miktzo'a)
Occupational diseases are medical conditions that develop gradually from workplace exposure rather than from a single incident. The National Insurance Law maintains a schedule of recognized occupational diseases — conditions officially linked to specific types of work. Examples include asbestosis for workers exposed to asbestos in construction, carpal tunnel syndrome for certain repetitive manual tasks, hearing loss from sustained industrial noise, and skin conditions from chemical exposure in manufacturing.
For an occupational disease claim, NII requires a medical opinion establishing both the diagnosis and the causal connection to your job. NII appoints its own medical board (va'ad refui) to evaluate disputed medical connections. These boards assess evidence and, when the occupational link is contested, their decision can be appealed to the Regional Labor Court.
NII does not pay simply because you are injured and you work. You must establish the medical connection between the event and the injury. For a broken arm from a documented fall at work, this is straightforward. For a back injury that developed gradually, or a cardiac condition you attribute to workplace stress, NII requires a formal medical opinion — typically from an orthopedic specialist or cardiologist — that addresses the causal link.
Critically: that medical opinion must be based on contemporaneous records. A doctor's letter written 18 months after the injury, reconstructed from memory, carries almost no weight. Get medical records created at the time of the accident or as close to it as possible. This single step determines whether a complicated claim succeeds or fails.
4. What to Do Immediately After a Workplace Accident
The sequence matters. Most claims that fail do so because the worker delayed too long or skipped one of these steps.
Step 1 — Get medical treatment and document it
Go to your Kupat Holim clinic or, if the injury is serious, the emergency department. At every point of contact, tell the treating clinician this is a work injury and ask them to document that fact in your medical record. Ask for a written discharge summary or clinic note that describes the mechanism of injury (how it happened) and connects it to your work. This document is the foundation of your NII claim.
Step 2 — Report to your employer the same day
Notify your direct manager and HR in writing — by email or WhatsApp message — that you suffered a work injury, at what time and location, and what happened. Do this before you leave the workplace if you are able to. Written same-day notice is far harder to dispute than a verbal report remembered differently by both sides three months later.
Step 3 — Employer's reporting obligation to authorities
Your employer is legally required to report the accident to the Work Inspection Service (Piku'ah Avoda) of the Ministry of Labor: within 24 hours for serious injuries that require hospitalization, and within 7 days for non-serious injuries. This report is your employer's obligation, not yours — but if they fail to do it, you can report directly to the Work Inspection Service's hotline at *1299 from any phone in Israel. In construction, agriculture, and high-risk industries, an unreported serious accident is itself a criminal violation.
Step 4 — Get your employer to complete Form 250B
Form 250 (the worker's NII claim form) has a second part — Form 250B — which your employer must complete. This confirms the accident occurred at their workplace, the date and time, and the nature of the work you were doing. Some employers delay or resist completing this form, particularly if they fear civil liability. If your employer refuses, NII has authority to investigate directly. Note this refusal in writing and include it in your claim submission.
The formal statute of limitations for an NII work injury claim is 7 years. But in practice, NII requires contemporaneous medical documentation to recognize the causal link between the accident and your injury. A claim filed 6 months after a knee injury will be scrutinized intensely because the medical records from the day of the accident are the central evidence — not a retrospective narrative.
File your Tofes 250 within 90 days of the accident. This is not a statutory deadline, but it is the practical outer limit within which NII routinely recognizes claims without requiring a formal evidentiary dispute. Beyond 90 days, expect objections, extended review, and potentially an internal appeals process before you see any payment.
5. Filing Your NII Work Injury Claim
The claim is filed using Form 250 (Tofes 250), available at any NII branch or downloadable from btl.gov.il. You will need the following documents:
- Form 250 (your section) — completed by you, describing when and how the accident occurred
- Form 250B (employer's section) — completed by your employer, confirming the accident at their premises
- Medical documentation — discharge summary, clinic notes, or emergency department records from the date of the injury or within a few days of it
- Pay stubs for the 3 months before the accident — NII uses these to calculate your average daily wage and the temporary incapacity benefit amount
- Identification — Israeli ID card (teudat zehut) for residents, or passport and work permit documentation for foreign nationals
Submit the complete package to your nearest NII branch — Tel Aviv (Dizengoff area), Jerusalem (Romema), Haifa, Beer Sheva, Ashdod, Netanya, Rishon LeZion, and others. NII does not currently offer a fully online submission process for work injury claims; personal submission at a branch is the standard route, though your Israeli attorney or an authorized representative can submit on your behalf using a power of attorney.
Once NII receives your claim, it is reviewed by a caseworker and, where the medical connection is not straightforward, referred to an NII medical board. If NII recognizes the claim, your temporary incapacity benefit begins from the 4th day of absence. NII sends a written decision to your address in Israel or, for foreign nationals who have left, to your attorney's address.
A foreign national who has already left Israel can still file and pursue an NII work injury claim, provided they appoint an Israeli attorney with a valid power of attorney. The attorney can submit the claim, attend NII medical board hearings on the claimant's behalf (with appropriate medical documentation), and represent the claimant in any Regional Labor Court appeal. If you were injured while working in Israel and have since returned home, contact an Israeli labor attorney immediately — the contemporaneous medical documentation you gathered before leaving is crucial evidence.
6. NII Work Injury Benefits: What You Can Receive
When NII recognizes your claim, three types of benefit become available. They work differently and have different qualification thresholds.
Temporary Incapacity Benefit (Dmei P'gia)
NII pays 75% of your average daily wage while you cannot work — calculated as your total income in the 90 days before the accident divided by 90. The benefit starts from the 4th day of absence. The first 3 days are covered by your employer under the Sick Pay Law if you have accrued sick leave, or are simply an uncompensated waiting period.
The daily wage calculation is subject to a maximum daily ceiling, which NII adjusts periodically. In 2026, the maximum daily income used in the calculation is approximately NIS 1,530, meaning the maximum daily benefit is approximately NIS 1,148 (75% of NIS 1,530). Workers whose actual daily earnings exceed this cap will notice the benefit is proportionally lower than 75% of their actual income.
The temporary incapacity benefit continues for as long as the NII medical board certifies you as unable to return to work, up to a maximum of 182 days (approximately 6 months). After 182 days, NII reassesses whether your condition has stabilized for a permanent disability evaluation.
Permanent Disability Assessment and Pension
If your injury causes lasting functional impairment, NII schedules a medical board appointment after the temporary phase ends or your condition stabilizes. The board assesses a disability percentage based on standardized medical tables:
- Below 9% disability: A lump sum calculated as a multiple of the standard disability pension rate, adjusted for your age and disability percentage
- 10%–19% disability: A partial monthly pension, proportional to the full pension rate
- 20% disability or above: A full monthly disability pension; the amount scales with the percentage up to the 100% rate
- 100% disability: A monthly pension currently set at approximately NIS 5,880, indexed annually to the minimum wage under Section 105 of the National Insurance Law
The medical board hearing is your most important appointment after the initial injury. Bring all medical documentation, request your treating physician to write a summary specifically addressing functional limitations, and attend in person if at all possible. An unexplained non-appearance can result in the board proceeding without you, which almost always produces a lower disability percentage than an attended examination.
Medical Expense Reimbursement
NII reimburses certain medical costs directly linked to the work injury and not covered by your Kupat Holim: hospital stays, surgery, physiotherapy, specialized rehabilitation, prosthetics, and medical equipment. Submit receipts with Form 5010 (Tofes 5010) — available at NII branches — along with your medical records connecting the expense to the work injury. Keep every receipt from the date of the accident.
Death Benefits
When an employee dies as a result of a work accident, their surviving spouse and dependent children receive NII survivor benefits under Section 90 of the National Insurance Law. The surviving spouse receives a monthly pension calculated as a percentage of the deceased's earnings (or the standard rate, whichever is higher), with increments for each dependent child. Foreign national dependents living outside Israel are entitled to these benefits subject to proof of dependency and, in some cases, reciprocity agreements between Israel and the relevant country.
- Not reporting to your employer in writing the same day — verbal reports get denied; a WhatsApp message is evidence, a conversation is not
- Seeking only private medical treatment without informing your Kupat Holim it is work-related — NII cross-checks with health fund records to verify the medical history
- Missing the NII medical board appointment without advance written notice — the board may proceed without you and assign a lower disability percentage by default
- Confusing work injury sick leave with ordinary sick pay — the NII work injury benefit is separate from and calculated differently than your contractual sick pay; claiming them incorrectly can create an overpayment that NII later demands back
- Accepting a "goodwill payment" from your employer without a written agreement specifying what it covers — unstructured payments may be deducted from your NII benefit if later characterized as compensation for the same loss
7. Civil Claims Against Your Employer: Beyond NII
NII benefits are a floor, not a ceiling. The Work Safety Ordinance 1970 and the Civil Wrongs Ordinance (Torts Ordinance) [New Version] 5728-1968 create separate civil liability for employers who fail to maintain a safe workplace. A civil negligence claim runs in parallel to your NII claim — the two do not cancel each other out, and civil damages are not automatically offset by NII benefits received.
When to consider a civil claim
A civil claim makes financial sense when your actual losses significantly exceed what NII pays. That gap is most visible in three situations: when you earn above the NII daily wage cap and the 75% benefit understates your real income loss; when the injury causes long-term reduced earning capacity that NII's disability percentage doesn't fully capture; and when pain and suffering are significant, because NII pays nothing for non-economic loss.
What you need to prove
For a civil negligence claim against your employer under the Civil Wrongs Ordinance, you must show:
- A duty of care owed by the employer to you (established by the employment relationship)
- A breach of that duty — typically a violation of the Work Safety Ordinance's specific obligations, a failure to maintain equipment, inadequate training, or a systemic disregard for safety requirements
- The breach caused your injury (causation)
- Quantifiable loss — medical expenses, lost earnings, pain and suffering, future losses
Damages available in a civil work injury claim
The Regional Labor Court can award:
- General damages for pain, suffering, and loss of amenity — uncapped
- Special damages for actual financial losses, including lost earnings above what NII covered
- Future medical expenses and ongoing rehabilitation costs
- Loss of earning capacity if the injury affects your career long-term or forces a job change
The statute of limitations for a civil work injury negligence claim is 7 years from the date of the accident under Section 89 of the Civil Wrongs Ordinance, though you should always act well within that window while evidence and witnesses are available.
Beyond civil damages, the Work Safety Ordinance creates criminal liability for employers and individual managers who breach workplace safety requirements. The Work Inspection Service investigates any serious accident — one involving hospitalization, disfigurement, loss of limb, or death — and can file criminal charges with the district attorney's office.
Fines under the Work Safety Ordinance reach NIS 226,000 per violation for corporate defendants, with personal criminal liability for the director or manager responsible for the safety failure. In fatality cases, custodial sentences have been imposed on Israeli employers in construction and manufacturing. Criminal proceedings run separately from the civil claim and NII process. If you suspect your employer's safety violations caused your accident, report in writing to the Work Inspection Service hotline at *1299 — this creates a formal record and triggers an investigation independent of your personal claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The National Insurance Law 5755-1995 covers every employee registered with Bituach Leumi from their first day on the job, regardless of nationality or visa type. An employer who sponsors a B/1 work permit is legally required to register that worker with NII and pay monthly contributions, which include the work injury insurance component. If injured at work, the B/1 holder files Form 250 (Tofes 250) at any NII branch and is entitled to temporary incapacity benefit at 75% of their average daily wage from the 4th day of absence.
Bituach Leumi pays a temporary incapacity benefit (dmei p'gia) equal to 75% of your average daily wage from the 4th day of work absence, based on your income in the 90 days before the accident and subject to a daily maximum of approximately NIS 1,530 in 2026. If the injury causes permanent disability, NII's medical board assesses a percentage: below 9% results in a lump sum; 10% and above results in a monthly disability pension scaling up to approximately NIS 5,880 per month for 100% disability. NII also reimburses work-injury medical costs not covered by your health fund.
No. NII work injury insurance is a no-fault scheme under Chapter 5 of the National Insurance Law 5755-1995. Contributory negligence on your part has no effect on your entitlement to NII benefits. It only becomes relevant if you separately sue your employer for civil damages under the Civil Wrongs Ordinance, where your comparative fault may reduce the damages the court awards. For the NII benefit, the only questions are whether the injury occurred during work and whether it qualifies under the statutory definition of a work accident.
File a written objection (hetztaza) with the NII branch that issued the decision within 30 days of receiving it. NII's internal appeals committee reviews the file and may reverse the decision, refer you for a second medical examination, or uphold the rejection. If the internal appeal fails, you can bring a civil claim before the Regional Labor Court in the district where you worked. The Labor Court appoints an independent medical expert when the dispute is medical in nature, and courts regularly increase disability percentages on appeal, particularly for conditions that develop progressively.
Yes. NII benefits and a civil negligence claim against your employer are not mutually exclusive. The Work Safety Ordinance (Pkadat Evtihat HaAvoda) 1970 and the Civil Wrongs Ordinance impose separate civil liability on employers who fail to maintain a safe workplace. Civil damages can cover pain and suffering, full lost earnings beyond the NII benefit, future medical expenses, and loss of earning capacity — none of which are capped. The Regional Labor Court has jurisdiction over work injury civil claims, with a 7-year limitation period under the Civil Wrongs Ordinance.