A pay bump for MKs is on the way
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MKs to get 4 percent pay increase in 2016
While most people's wages remain frozen, Members of the Knesset, the president and judges will receive a bigger-than-expected pay bump as of Friday, coming out at an extra 1,600 – 2,300 NIS extra per month. Some MKs have already indicated that they will not accept the pay rise.
Members of the Knesset, the president and judges will enjoy a four percent pay raise as of Friday, as a result of an exceptional increase in the average wage for the year.
Effectively, this means an extra NIS 1,600 – 2,300 per month for those receiving a pay raise. The increase comes at a time when the majority of salaries in Israel are set to remain frozen and when hundreds of thousands of public sector workers will be receiving only a one percent pay raise – and not until next July.
The Knesset Finance Committee in action (Photo: Amit Shabi)
The prime minister and other ministers will not be receiving a salary increase, however, as their wages are linked to the Consumer Price Index, which remained negative for the second year in a row. The prime minister's monthly wage is currently NIS 47,485 , while ministers take home NIS 42,644 per month.
With the increase, the president of the Supreme Court will now earn NIS 54,080 a month instead of NIS 52,000, an increase of NIS 2,080. MKs will receive a NIS 1,601 pay boost, taking their monthly earnings from NIS 40,029 to NIS41,630.
Some MKs have indicated that they will not be accepting the pay raise, including all those from Yesh Atid, the Likud's David Bitan, David Amsalem and Miki Zohar, and the Zionist Union's Isaac Herzog, Shelly Yachimovich, Itzik Shmuli and Merav Michaeli.
In contrast, embattled Likud MK Oren Hazan recently said he would accept the pay increase, as did Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu), Eliezer Mozes (United Torah Judaism) and Jamal Zahalka (Joint Arab List).
