Israel’s Finance Ministry rewrites compensation plan after war ends quickly. The Israeli Finance Ministry found itself in a difficult situation: just a day and a half after publishing an ambitious compensation plan for the damage caused by the economic shutdown due to the war with Iran, the military operation suddenly ended.

This required an urgent adaptation of the compensation mechanism to ensure that neither workers nor businesses were left without support. The original plan provided for the possibility of taking unpaid leave under more lenient conditions, with the minimum period reduced from 30 to 14 days.

However, the conflict itself lasted only 12 days, and many did not have time to “work” the required period to receive unemployment benefits. After consultations with the Histadrut trade union and employer representatives, the Finance Ministry agreed to reduce the minimum period to 12 calendar days, of which at least 11 days had to be absent, not necessarily consecutively. This change made it possible to include thousands of workers in the compensation system who were “in between” the terms.

During the short-term easing of restrictions, many Israelis tried to return to work for at least a day, but were later forced to go on vacation again. Initially, they risked losing their right to compensation, but the Histadrut managed to change the conditions: even a one-day return will not be an obstacle to receiving assistance.

The Finance Ministry took into account the lessons of past years, when the compensation system was used unfairly: fictitious vacations, double payments, “envelope salaries”.

The ministry stated that it will strictly suppress such schemes. The National Insurance Institute will receive tools to verify who really did not work during this period. The most controversial issue remains support for enterprises with income over 400 million shekels. In the previous version of the plan, they could even count on assistance from a special fund of 60 million shekels.

However, now that the “extreme scenario” has not been realized, the Finance Ministry doubts the need for such expenses. A final decision on this point has not yet been made, but a source in the ministry said that the government is “not eager” to activate this part of the agreements. Despite the “premature” end of the war, the Finance Ministry emphasizes that workers and businesses whose incomes have actually suffered will receive the promised compensation. The aid will be provided retroactively, and no elements of the program are being canceled, except for a possible revision of assistance to large corporations.