Conscript soldiers to receive pay raise
Finance Minister Kahlon announces that conscripts will get a 50% pay boost starting in January.
Conscript soldiers are to receive a pay raise of about 50%, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu) announced Thursday night following a week in which soldiers complained about their salaries. The raise will be made possible by a NIS 600 million budget increase.
Raising soldiers' wages was part of Kulanu's election platform. Kulanu recently contacted Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon regarding the subject. Ya'alon suggested that the money be provided in the form of deposits to be redeemed at the end of service rather than paychecks.
A committee headed by the directors of the Finance, Defense and Justice Ministries finally agreed that the money should be given as paychecks. It was also announced that the funds would be part of the base budget and not a one-time addition.
When the new raise goes into effect at the beginning of 2015, combat soldiers will go from making NIS 1,077 a month to about NIS 1,615. Combat support units, who make NIS 784, will receive NIS 1,176. Non-combatant soldiers who serve in logistical roles will get NIS 810 instead of NIS 540.
Alongside the agreement on pay raises for soldiers, there has reportedly been significant progress in talks between Ya'alon and Kahlon regarding the size of the defense budget. Current estimates are that the budget will stand at NIS 60 billion, larger than the defense budget for 2015, which stood at NIS 57 billion.
