The Finance Ministry released its 2023-2024 salary report for Israel’s defense establishment Wednesday, revealing pay data across the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), police, prison service, Mossad, and Shin Bet. The report shows salaries for junior IDF career personnel jumped 10% in one year and 17% over two years.
According to the data, average pay for junior career soldiers stood at ₪13,845 per month in 2024. The Finance Ministry noted this was the sharpest increase recorded in the past year among security agencies, driven partly by the IDF’s multi-year plan for 2023-2027 that emphasizes reinforcing combat forces and younger personnel, as well as the high operational tempo during the war.
Still, junior career soldiers remain the lowest paid in the defense establishment, mainly due to their young age and limited seniority compared to veteran and senior personnel. Average IDF pay overall stood at ₪18,756, while the Israel Police averaged ₪20,562 and the Prison Service ₪18,889.
At the top of the defense pay scale sit support agencies, led by the Atomic Energy Commission with an average salary of ₪34,315. Next come the intelligence agencies—the Mossad and Shin Bet—where average pay stands at ₪32,225. The Biological Research Institute recorded an average salary of ₪31,932.
The report also addresses the growth in IDF civilian employees. According to the Finance Ministry, their numbers rose from roughly 6,600 three years ago to about 8,000 in 2024. Most of the increase came in intelligence, cyber, and technology fields, reflecting the IDF’s manpower needs during wartime.
Another figure in the report concerns budgetary pensions for IDF officers. The value of the average budgetary pension for an officer is estimated at roughly ₪9 million, with average retirement age at 45 and average monthly pension at ₪20,019.
The report also shows the proportion of women in the defense establishment continues to rise, but gender pay gaps widened slightly in 2024. The Finance Ministry explains the main reason is salary supplements tied to operational activity and combat, which are given primarily to field positions with male majorities.