Knesset members to get pay rise, bringing salary to just under 40,000 shekels per month
Israeli lawmakers get 675-shekel hike; move comes as MKs on hiatus, and adjusts pay to match rise in average Israeli salaries.
Knesset members get an extra NIS 675 a month in their paychecks from Sunday, raising their pre-tax salary from NIS 38,887 to 39,562 (approximately $10,000). The rise was approved while the Knesset is on hiatus due to the upcoming elections, and is an automatic adjustment.
The MKs' monthly salaries are adjusted annually every January. The salary is calculated automatically, in accordance with the increase in the average wages, which in Israel rose by 1.9 percent.
Since 2000, Knesset members have enjoyed a 100-percent rise in salary. And MKs are not the only ones to enjoy a pay increase – President Reuven Rivlin's salary also rose at the same rate, and he will now receive NIS 55,939 per month, up NIS 975 per month from NIS 54,964.
The Knesset Research and Information Center reported in December that an MK makes 3.7 times more than the average national full-time wage in Israel - a higher salary than the average of members of parliament in 11 countries around the world.
Israel's judges will also see an increase in pay. Supreme Court President Justice Miriam Naor is set to receive a monthly salary of NIS 52,500 – NIS 910 more than her current salary.
Yet there are some senior officials who have not been granted a pay rise. Senior public sector officials, whose salaries are linked to the consumer price index, do not get a hike. However, although the consumer price index fell 0.2% in 2014, their pay will not be reduced.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is included among the latter group, receives a monthly salary of NIS 47,100. Efforts were made to prevent the salary increases over the past year, following public criticism, and the public committee examining MKs salaries recommended freezing public sector salary hikes. Nonetheless, the Knesset refrained from discussing any implementation of the recommendations.
