Having a baby in Israel

Four moments. Mixing them up is how a payment already sent never arrives, or a passport is requested without a certificate.

1. 1
   Before the due date — Be registered with a Kupat Holim. Choose the hospital. Open Tipat Halav follow-up. Check whether you have enough insured months for paid maternity leave (dmei leida) — it is not automatic for a new Olah.
2. 2
   At the hospital — Give a first name if you have one. Keep the birth notification, the vaccine booklet, and the papers for Bituah Leumi. From early 2026 the hospital generally sends the notice to Misrad HaPnim in real time.
3. 3
   Within a month — Official birth certificate at Misrad HaPnim (often online if the child is Israeli). The birth grant is usually paid on its own to the account on file. Register the baby with the Kupah and Tipat Halav.
4. 4
   Citizenship of origin — The Israeli certificate does not by itself create a French or US passport. Transcription at the Tel Aviv consulate for France. For the United States, see the leaving-the-US guide (CRBA) — it is not automatic.

Prenatal care and a public-hospital birth go through the Kupat Holim once you are a resident and enrolled. Without an up-to-date Kupah, the hospital bills you. Do not postpone enrolment “until after the baby”.

• Tipat HalavFree follow-up ages 0–6: vaccines, growth charts, advice. Municipality or Kupah. It is not an ER substitute.
• HospitalPublic, via the Kupah. Ask your doctor which facility. Keep every discharge paper: birth notice, booklet, letters for Bituah Leumi.
• First nameYou can give it at the hospital. Otherwise the notice goes out unnamed, and you complete it later (naming service, also online).

The hospital notice is not registration in the Population Registry. Misrad HaPnim records an eligible child, assigns an ID number, updates the parents’ sfachim, and issues the certificate.

• Israeli citizenThe certificate is often requested online once the notice is in. Delay: days rather than weeks since 2026, according to the Health Ministry. Kiosk or desk still work.
• Only one Israeli parentThe Israeli parent generally comes with their Teudat Zehut and the other parent’s passport. Do not assume “the hospital did everything”.
• Neither parent IsraeliA different file: a live-birth notice, not a standard Israeli certificate. Useful mainly for a foreign consulate. Go to Misrad HaPnim with both valid passports.

Three separate benefits. Many Olim mix up the one-off grant (maanak leida) with paid maternity leave (dmei leida).

• Maanak leida (birth grant)Help with first expenses. From 1 January 2026: ₪2,103 for a first child, ₪946 for a second, ₪631 from the third. Twins: ₪10,514. Triplets: ₪15,771. After a hospital birth in Israel, payment is generally automatic to the account on file, within a month. Amounts move — check btl.gov.il.
• Kitzvat yeladim (child allowance)Monthly. For children who made Aliyah with you: from Aliyah day, generally automatic via Misrad HaKlita. If nothing arrives after two months, file a claim at the branch or online. The amount depends on how many children — do not copy a 2019 forum post.
• Dmei leida (maternity allowance)This is not an Olah right on landing day. You need insured months in Israel: 10 of the 14 months (or 15 of 22) before stopping work for 15 weeks; 6 of 14 months for 8 weeks. Work abroad usually does not count, except narrow cases (Israeli employer). A woman who gives birth too soon after Aliyah without having worked here often gets only the grant, not the leave salary.

• FranceTranscribe the Israeli certificate into French civil status at the Consulate General in Tel Aviv. Without that, no French passport for the child. Detail in the leaving-France guide.
• United StatesCitizenship transmission depends on the US parent’s physical presence, not on the place of birth alone. Consular Report of Birth Abroad, by appointment. See the leaving-the-US guide — do not assume every child of an American is a citizen.

• Kupat HolimChoosing a fund, enrolling, Mashlim: health guide.
• SchoolGan, primary, Bagrut: education guide. Tipat Halav and vaccines appear there too.
• Dismissal during pregnancyLabour-law protection: work guide, not this page.