Dear Clients,
We have compiled for you several updates concerning the employment of employees during wartime, including details of the reliefs approved last night by the Knesset that allow employees who were placed on unpaid leave following Operation “Lion’s Roar” to receive unemployment benefits.
On this occasion, we wish you a holiday of spring and renewal.
We hope for security and tranquility, for the safe return of our soldiers and all security forces to their homes, and that the land will know peace.
Updates – Operation Lion’s Roar
1. Unemployment Benefits Framework During Unpaid Leave
Last night, the Knesset approved the law[1] that provides relief in obtaining unemployment benefits during unpaid leave due to the operation, for the period beginning on 28.02.2026 and ending on 14.04.2026 (“the Framework”). The Minister of Finance and the Minister of Labor, with the approval of the Knesset’s Labor and Welfare Committee, may extend this period by up to one additional month, until 14.05.2026.
Key provisions of the Framework:
- The employer, with the employee’s consent or at the employee’s initiative, will place the employee on unpaid leave, and the employee may receive unemployment benefits from the National Insurance Institute, subject to meeting the individual eligibility conditions for unemployment benefits. The unemployment claim may be submitted retroactively, provided that the unpaid leave begins during the Framework period.
- The qualifying unpaid leave period was shortened to 10 consecutive calendar days (instead of 30 days).
- The qualifying period for unemployment benefits was shortened to 6 months out of 18 months (instead of 12 months out of 18). For special populations, the qualifying period was shortened to only 3 months: persons with disabilities; spouses of reserve soldiers who served more than 90 days in the preceding year; victims of hostile acts or IDF disabled veterans from an injury originating on 07.10.2023 and their spouses; individuals evacuated from their homes following an attack during Operation “Lion’s Roar”; and discharged soldiers.
- Unemployment benefits will be paid from the first day of unpaid leave, without deducting the first 5 waiting days.
- Cancellation of the requirement to use accrued vacation days before taking unpaid leave.
- Extension of the maximum payment period for unemployment benefits for a returning unemployed person under the age of 40, and for anyone who exhausted their individual unemployment benefit days due to being placed on unpaid leave during Operation “Rising Lion”.
According to National Insurance Institute guidelines, an employee who filed an unemployment claim in the past year is not required to file a new claim, but rather to update their status on the National Insurance Institute website and re-register with the Employment Service. Concurrently, the employer will report to the National Insurance Institute the date of work cessation and its reason and the unpaid leave period. Only if the employee has not filed a claim in the past they will be required to file a claim.
Also according to the guidelines, first payments for unemployment benefit applications under the Framework submitted by 09.04.2026 will be paid in April and May.
2. Amendment to the Women’s Employment Law
The law amends the Women’s Employment Law[2] in two ways:
a. Elimination of the need to obtain a permit to place an employee on unpaid leave in certain cases
As a general rule, an employer may reduce the scope of employment or income of an employee who is protected from dismissal under Section 9 of the law only if the employer receives a permit from the Minister of Labor. Under this law, it was determined that placing an employee on unpaid leave during the period from 28.02.2026 to 14.04.2026 (and also during any extension period if approved) does not require a permit, if it is due to one of the following situations:
- The employee could not reach the workplace due to Home Front Command instructions; or
- The employee could not reach the workplace because the employee was required to supervise a child up to age 14, or a child up to age 21 if the child is a student with special needs, due to the closure of the child’s educational institution.
The above absences must comply with Sections 2(a) or 2(b)(1) of the Emergency Protection of Employees Law[3].
In any other case of placement on unpaid leave – an application must be submitted to the Minister of Labor for a permit. During this period, an online application may be submitted via the following link.
b. Placement of an employee on unpaid leave during the 60-day period following the end of the maternity and parental leave period or other permitted absences under the Women’s Employment Law.
During the temporary order period beginning on the date of publication of the law and until 31.03.2027, if an employee took at least 14 consecutive days of unpaid leave during the period between 28.02.2026 and 14.04.2026 (and also during any extension period if approved), the unpaid leave days will not be counted within the 60-day protection period from dismissal. In other words, the protected period is suspended during the unpaid leave and resumes thereafter. The employer must return the employee to work at the end of the unpaid leave, and it is prohibited to dismiss the employee after the return to work for an additional period equal to the period during which the employee was on unpaid leave, and until completion of the 60-day protected period.
If 60 days have already elapsed from the end of the maternity and parental leave period or the permitted absence under the Women’s Employment Law, it is possible to obtain a dismissal permit even in respect of an employee who was placed on unpaid leave – provided it is demonstrated that there is no connection between the dismissal and the birth, the employee’s maternity and parental period, etc. (i.e., the protected ground).
3. Special Grant for Individuals Aged 67 and Over
As employees over the age of 67 are not eligible to unemployment benefits, the law establishes[4] eligibility for a special grant for persons aged 67 and over who were placed on unpaid leave (at their initiative or at the employer’s initiative) for at least 10 consecutive days or were dismissed during Operation “Lion’s Roar”, and who were employed as salaried employees for at least 3 months prior. This follows similar previous frameworks. The grant is capped at NIS 137 per day.
4. Added Protection from Dismissal Under the Emergency Protection of Employees Law
On 26.03.2026, an amendment to the Emergency Protection of Employees Law was published[5], which came into effect retroactively from 28.02.2026. The amendment adds protection against dismissal during a period in which a “special home front situation” was declared, for two groups of employees:
- An employee who was absent from work or could not perform it for 3 months from the day they were evacuated from their home due to damage caused to the home as a result of an attack, subject to meeting the additional conditions set forth.
- An employee who was absent from work or did not perform it for purposes of supervising a child who is with them, due to reserve duty service of the employee’s spouse or the child’s other parent, or due to the spouse/other parent serving in the security forces.
This provision also applies to a foster parent.
In addition, a temporary order was established regarding the closure of educational institutions: from 28.02.2026 and for six months after the expiry of the declaration of a “Special Home Front Situation”, the closure of an educational institution may also be carried out by decision of the local authority or the management of the educational institution. Accordingly, even if Home Front Command instructions allowed opening, but the school or local authority decided not to open, this will be considered a closure for the purposes of the Emergency Protection of Employees Law.
5. Permits to Employ Employees for Overtime
As we published in our memorandum dated 09.03.2026, with the start of the operation, in light of the absence of many employees from their workplaces for various reasons, and in order to allow continuity of the economy despite labor shortages, the Minister of Labor published three permits for employing employees for overtime: a permit for employing employees in the guarding and security sector; a permit for employing employees in transportation; and a general permit.
The validity of the permits was extended until 14.04.2026 or until the end of the declaration of a “special home front situation” – whichever is earlier.
You can read an explanation of the main provisions of the permits in our memorandum dated 09.03.2026.
Expected Publication Date of an Extension Order for the Collective Agreement Regarding Reserve Duty Soldiers and Their Spouses, and Accrual of Annual Leave for Certain Employees
As we published in our memorandum dated 09.03.2026, on 23.02.2026 a collective agreement was signed regarding reserve duty soldiers and their spouses, extending the protections and rights granted to reserve duty soldiers and their spouses over the past two years.
According to published notices[6], the Minister of Labor may extend the collective agreement as of 02.04.2026. Since this coincides with the Passover holiday, it appears that the extension order will be published after the holiday.
With best wishes for quiet days and a happy Passover,
Labor Law
Shibolet & Co.
This review, when written in the masculine form, is written for convenience only and is intended for women and men alike.
[1]Economic Assistance Program Law (Temporary Provision) (Employment), 5786-2026 (not yet published) (the “Law”).
[2] Women’s Employment Law, 5714-1954 (the “Women’s Employment Law”).
[3] Emergency Protection of Employees Law, 5766-2006 (the “Emergency Protection of Employees Law”).
[4] By way of amendment to the Special Grant for Persons Aged 67 and Above Law (Temporary Provision – Special Cases), 5780-2020.
[5] Emergency Protection of Employees Law (Amendment No. 6 and Temporary Provision), 5786-2026.
[6]On 26.03.2026, a notice was published regarding the urgency of extending the applicability of the collective agreement regarding reserve duty servicemembers and their spouses and the accrual of annual leave for certain employees, in respect of which, on 03.03.2026, a notice of the Minister of Labor was published regarding the intention to issue an extension order expanding its applicability.
