Daijiworld Media Network – Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv, Aug 27: A new report by Israel’s Finance Ministry has highlighted significant salary disparities across the country’s security organisations, with employees in some Defence Ministry auxiliary units earning more than twice the average salary of younger career soldiers.
The report, covering defence system employees during 2023-24, also revealed that the average cumulative value of an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) officer’s state pension is around NIS 9 million.
Employees in Defence Ministry auxiliary units, including the Atomic Energy Commission, recorded the highest average salary at NIS 34,315 per month in 2024. Personnel working with the Mossad and Shin Bet received an average of NIS 32,225, while employees of the Israel Institute for Biological Research earned NIS 31,932.
The average salary of civilian employees of the IDF stood at NIS 22,926, while police personnel earned NIS 20,562 and Prison Service employees received NIS 18,889. The Finance Ministry said salary increases granted to police and Prison Service employees in mid-2024 would be reflected more fully in the 2025 report.
The overall average salary in the IDF was NIS 18,756. Meanwhile, younger career soldiers saw their average monthly salary rise to NIS 13,845, compared with NIS 11,786 in 2022, marking an increase of around 17.5%.
At the highest level, an IDF major general earned an average monthly salary of NIS 73,099. The corresponding figures were NIS 66,084 for a police commissioner and NIS 62,946 for a Prison Service commissioner.
The report also noted an increase in the IDF's civilian workforce, which grew from around 6,600 employees in 2021 to about 8,000 in 2024. Much of the recruitment was in intelligence, cyber and technology fields, bringing down the average age of civilian employees from 50 to 44.
The pension system for IDF officers was another major focus of the report. The average cumulative value of an officer's pension was estimated at around NIS 9 million, with officers retiring at an average age of 45 and receiving a monthly pension of about NIS 20,019.
The average pension was around NIS 4,300 higher than the 2024 target of NIS 15,717. The target for 2025 has been set at NIS 15,553, with the report warning that maintaining pension levels above the target could pose challenges for the IDF.
Under Israeli law, if the average pension of retiring officers remains above the prescribed target, the finance minister will be required to introduce new regulations governing pension payments.
The report also highlighted gender disparities within the security sector. Women account for around one-third of career soldiers in the IDF and 41.2% of employees at the Israel Institute for Biological Research.
However, the gender pay gap widened slightly in 2024, partly due to activity and combat-related bonuses that were mainly awarded to field positions, where men constitute a larger proportion of employees.