Does Israeli child support cover private school and other extraordinary expenses?

Israeli child support divides a child's costs into two layers. The base amount (mezonot) is meant to cover ordinary living needs such as food, clothing, a share of housing, and routine schooling, and it is what most orders quantify as a fixed monthly figure. Sitting above that are hotzaot chorgot, the exceptional or non-routine expenses that fall outside daily life. These typically include private or special education, significant medical and dental costs beyond the Bituach Leumi (National Insurance) health basket such as orthodontics, psychological or developmental therapy, and substantial extracurricular activities. Because they are unpredictable in amount and timing, courts rarely fold them into the base figure. Instead a support order states how they are shared, and the split is commonly equal or proportional to each parent's net income.

The most important practical point is that these expenses are not self-executing. A parent who unilaterally enrols a child in a costly private school or commits to expensive treatment can find the other parent is not obliged to contribute unless the expense was agreed in advance or approved by the court. The Supreme Court's 2017 ruling in BAGATZ 919/15 reshaped how support is allocated for children aged six to fifteen, directing courts to weigh each parent's relative income and the division of parenting time, and that same logic guides how extraordinary costs are apportioned. The workable solution is to define in the child support agreement exactly which categories count as hotzaot chorgot, how each parent approves them, and how receipts are reconciled, then keep documentation so a contribution can be enforced if the other parent refuses.

From the full guide: Child Support in Israel: A Complete Guide

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