Under the plan, fathers will receive at least two weeks paid leave and Transport Minister Merav Michaeli hopes to increase it to a month.
Minister of Finance Avigdor Liberman and Minister of Transport Merav Michaeli announced today that they have agreed to promote paternity leave as part of the 2023 budget. This assumes that the current coalition government will survive through until the final enactment of the state budget in September.
Under the plan, fathers will receive at least two weeks paid leave and Michaeli hopes to increase it to a month. Liberman said that he and Michaeli will make the final decision together with the Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbivai and the National Insurance Institute.
The father's paternity leave will not be at the expense of the mother, who receives 15 weeks paid leave, but they will not be able to take leave simultaneously. The father can take his leave between the 15th and 26th weeks after the birth.
At present fathers are only entitled to six days paid leave from their employers as part of their annual vacation days or sick days quota. Fathers also have the option of taking the mother's 15 weeks paid leave but this is almost never implemented.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 11, 2022.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2022.
Avigdor Liberman Credit: Eyal Izhar