Israel’s Security Sector Pay Disparities Exposed in Major Finance Ministry Audit

A newly released Finance Ministry report highlights significant salary disparities within Israel’s security apparatus, showing that personnel in certain Defense Ministry auxiliary units earn more than double the average wage of early-career soldiers.

Additionally, the report indicates that the average state pension for an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer stands at approximately NIS 9 million.

These findings are part of the Finance Ministry’s Salary and Labor Agreements Division report on defense system employees for 2023–2024. The comprehensive review assesses the impacts of ongoing conflicts, salary agreements, and shifts in workforce composition across Israeli security organizations.

The highest average salaries were recorded within Defense Ministry auxiliary units, notably the Atomic Energy Commission, where staff earned an average gross monthly wage of NIS 34,315 in 2024.

Personnel at key intelligence agencies, including Mossad and the Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency), averaged NIS 32,225 monthly, while those at the Israel Institute for Biological Research earned an average of NIS 31,932.

IDF Salaries Lag Behind Other Security Branches

The average salary for civilian IDF employees totaled NIS 22,926, compared to NIS 20,562 for Israel Police staff and NIS 18,889 for Prison Service personnel.

However, the Finance Ministry noted that substantial salary increases implemented for police and Prison Service staff in mid-2024 will only be fully reflected in the upcoming 2025 report.

Alongside these wage adjustments, staffing levels across security organizations have grown. In 2024, the police force employed roughly 26,900 workers, the Prison Service maintained a workforce of about 9,500, and the IDF’s civilian wing expanded to approximately 8,500 employees.

Combined, these three bodies with publicly available data employed roughly 44,900 individuals, marking an increase of approximately 2,500 workers in a single year. Staffing figures for active IDF personnel, intelligence agencies, and Defense Ministry auxiliary units remain undisclosed.

The IDF’s overall average salary was the lowest of the analyzed organizations, standing at NIS 18,756. Conversely, compensation for junior career soldiers has steadily increased, with average monthly pay for those in initial service reaching NIS 13,845 in 2024, up from NIS 11,786 in 2022—a rise of roughly 17.5%.

At the upper echelon, average monthly salaries for top-tier officials reached NIS 73,099 for an IDF major general, NIS 66,084 for a police commissioner, and NIS 62,946 for a Prison Service commissioner.

The ongoing conflict has also driven the expansion of the IDF’s civilian workforce, growing from roughly 6,600 in 2021 to approximately 8,000 in 2024. This surge was largely driven by recruitment in critical fields such as intelligence, cyber, and technology, resulting in a drop of the average age of civilian employees from 50 to 44.

Officer Pensions Exceed State Targets, Raising Fiscal Concerns

A key focus of the report is the state pension system for IDF officers. The average cumulative value of an officer’s pension is estimated at roughly NIS 9 million, with the average retirement age sitting at 45 and monthly pension payouts averaging NIS 20,019.

This average pension is approximately NIS 4,300 higher than the target set for 2024, which was NIS 15,717. Although the target for 2025 is set at NIS 15,553, the report warns that current trends suggest the IDF may struggle to meet this objective.

Under Israeli legislation, if the average pension of retiring officers continues to exceed the target, the finance minister is mandated to draft new regulations overseeing pension disbursements.

Women currently constitute about one-third of career soldiers in the IDF and represent 41.2% of the workforce at the Israel Institute for Biological Research.

Nevertheless, the gender salary gap widened marginally in 2024, a trend partly attributed to combat and activity-based bonuses that are disproportionately allocated to field roles, where male representation is higher.

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