Israel ยท Middle East
Moving to Jerusalem
Jerusalem quick facts
Israel at a glance
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
Economy
World Bank ยท 2025Religion
% of populationCIA World Factbook / national censuses
Cost of living in Jerusalem
Can you move to Israel?
Pick your passport to see whether you can enter Israel โ and what it takes to stay.
Entry rules come from github.com/imorte/passport-index-data, updated 17 February 2026. They change without notice โ confirm with the official immigration service before booking.
Getting set up in Israel
Residency: aliyah, or an employer-sponsored B/1
If you, a parent, a grandparent or your spouse are Jewish, the Law of Return entitles you to make aliyah: citizenship and an Israeli ID number essentially on arrival, arranged in advance and free through the Jewish Agency or Nefesh B'Nefesh. If you have no such claim there is no general immigration route โ you need an Israeli employer to sponsor a B/1 work permit through the Population and Immigration Authority, and the 'foreign expert' track requires a salary of twice the national average wage. A B/2 visitor stamp, now gated by a pre-travel ETA-IL, carries no work rights at all. There is no digital-nomad visa.
Read the full step-by-step guideGetting around, Shabbat, and converting your licence
The Rav-Kav smartcard, or an account-based app, covers Egged buses and the light rail on distance-based fares with about ninety minutes of free transfers. The Red Line was extended in February 2025 to Neve Yaakov in the north and Hadassah Ein Kerem in the south-west, taking it to roughly 22.5 km; the Green Line is opening in stages. The fast train from Yitzhak Navon station reaches Tel Aviv in about half an hour. From mid-afternoon Friday to nightfall Saturday, buses, the light rail and the train all stop, and unlike Tel Aviv the municipality runs no free weekend service โ sheruts, taxis and East Jerusalem's own bus network are the alternatives. You may drive on a valid foreign licence for one year from entry; after that you convert at Misrad HaRishui.
Read the full step-by-step guideOpening an Israeli bank account
Five banks dominate: Hapoalim, Leumi, Discount and Mizrahi-Tefahot on the branch model, plus the digital ONE ZERO. With a Teudat Zehut an account is usually opened the same day; a non-resident account goes through a compliance review and can take several days. The real cost is fees โ Israeli retail banking charges a monthly account-management fee plus per-action charges, and the plan is negotiable if you ask. US citizens and green-card holders must complete FATCA paperwork with a Social Security Number, which is enforced strictly given how many dual nationals live here.
Read the full step-by-step guideKupat holim, and the gap that catches work-visa holders
Israel's universal system under the 1995 National Health Insurance Law is delivered by four health funds โ Clalit, Maccabi, Meuhedet and Leumit โ funded by a health-tax slice of National Insurance. Register with Bituach Leumi, pick one fund, and you get the identical statutory benefits basket with small capped copays. Olim are covered from the day of aliyah, with health tax usually waived for roughly the first six months. B/1 foreign workers are not in the system at all: the Foreign Workers Law puts the insurance duty on the employer, and everyone else needs private cover. Jerusalem's hospitals are Hadassah Ein Kerem, Hadassah Mount Scopus and Shaare Zedek. Ambulance is 101.
Read the full step-by-step guideMobile and home internet
Israeli mobile is among the cheapest in the OECD after the 2012 market reform: unlimited domestic calls and texts with a large data allowance for roughly โช27โ50 a month. The big three are Cellcom, Partner and Pelephone; the cheap operators are Golan Telecom, Hot Mobile, 019 Mobile and Rami Levy. Plans carry no lock-in and numbers port free in minutes. Home internet is historically two purchases โ an infrastructure provider and an ISP โ increasingly sold as one bundle, and in Jerusalem's older stone buildings what is actually available at your address varies street by street.
Read the full step-by-step guideIncome tax, the ten-year olim exemption, and Jerusalem arnona
Israel taxes residents on worldwide income, with residency decided by a substantive centre-of-life test backed by day-count presumptions. New immigrants and senior returning residents are exempt from Israeli tax on foreign-source income and foreign capital gains for ten years โ but not on Israeli-source income, and for anyone becoming resident on or after 1 January 2026 the parallel reporting exemption has been abolished, so the income stays untaxed but must now be disclosed. Rates are progressive with a surtax at the top, capital gains are generally 25%, and VAT is 18%. Separately and locally, the Jerusalem Municipality bills arnona to whoever occupies the flat, at rates set per square metre by classification zone.
Read the full step-by-step guideEach guide has verified costs, timelines, required documents, and the non-obvious gotchas โ sourced from official government pages. Last verified August 2026.
Essential Hebrew phrases
Reading a list isnโt learning it. Globe Quest turns these into a trainer โ hear each phrase spoken, drill them with spaced repetition, and get scored as you say them out loud.
What to know before you go
Shabbat closes Jerusalem far harder than it closes Tel Aviv
CriticalFrom mid-afternoon Friday until after dark on Saturday, city buses and the light rail stop, most shops and restaurants in Jewish west Jerusalem close, and โ unlike Tel Aviv โ there is no free municipal weekend bus network to fill the gap. Sherut shared taxis, ordinary taxis and East Jerusalem's own bus network keep running. Plan Friday shopping before about 2pm, and never book a Saturday-morning train or flight assuming you can get to it by bus.
Neighbourhood, not price, is the decision that will define your life here
CriticalJerusalem's residential areas are strongly segmented by religious observance and community, and this is invisible on a listing site. Some streets are closed to traffic on Shabbat by neighbourhood agreement. Some buildings have expectations about dress, noise and Friday-night behaviour that nobody will write down. Before you commit to a lease, walk the street on a Friday evening and on a Saturday โ not on a Tuesday afternoon when every neighbourhood looks the same.
Arnona is billed to you, not your landlord, and the rate depends on your zone
ImportantMunicipal property tax in Israel is paid by the occupier. The Jerusalem Municipality divides the city into classification zones charged at different rates per square metre, so two flats of identical size on different streets have different bills, and the rates are updated automatically every January by a nationally-set percentage. New immigrants can claim a large discount on up to 100 sqm for twelve months chosen from their first twenty-four in Israel โ you must apply with your teudat oleh and have the bill in your own name.
This is a government, hospital and university town, not a startup town
ImportantThe Knesset, the Supreme Court, the Bank of Israel and most government ministries are here, alongside the Hebrew University, Hadassah and Shaare Zedek, a very large NGO and non-profit sector, and the Har Hotzvim tech park where Intel, Mobileye and Teva sit. If you are job-hunting in consumer tech or VC, the density is in Tel Aviv and the fast train makes commuting there realistic. If you work in policy, research, medicine, archaeology, religion or diplomacy, there is nowhere else in the country like it.
It is 800 metres up, and that changes what you pack
Good to knowJerusalem sits in the Judean Hills at roughly 750โ800 m, so it is several degrees cooler than the coast, far less humid, and genuinely cold and wet in winter with occasional snow. Summer nights are pleasant in a way Tel Aviv's never are. Older stone flats hold the cold, central heating is not universal, and 'it's a hot country' is the assumption that leaves new arrivals shivering through January.
The city's status is contested โ be factually careful and practically prepared
Good to knowJerusalem's status is the subject of an unresolved international dispute, and most countries keep their embassies elsewhere in Israel even where consular services exist here. Practically: East Jerusalem's Palestinian residents mostly hold Israeli permanent residency rather than citizenship, which is a different legal status with different paperwork; and the security situation can change access to specific areas at short notice. Keep the Home Front Command app, follow official guidance, and treat local politics as something to understand rather than argue about.
Top industries & employers
Government & public administration
The Knesset, Supreme Court, Bank of Israel, most government ministries
Jerusalem is the seat of national government, which makes public administration the city's single largest white-collar employer and gives it an entirely different professional culture from the coast.
Healthcare & medical research
Hadassah Ein Kerem, Hadassah Mount Scopus, Shaare Zedek Medical Center
Two major hospital systems with large research arms. Medicine and biotech are among the strongest routes into skilled employment here for foreign professionals.
Higher education & research
Hebrew University (Mount Scopus, Givat Ram, Ein Kerem), Bezalel Academy, Israel Museum
The Hebrew University anchors an unusually deep academic and archives sector, and Bezalel gives the city a serious art and design school with its campus in the centre.
Technology at Har Hotzvim
Intel, Mobileye, Teva, Cisco, Medinol
The city's dedicated hi-tech park in the north-west. Mobileye's global headquarters and main R&D campus are here, which makes Jerusalem a genuine centre for autonomous-driving and vision engineering specifically.
NGOs, diplomacy & international organisations
Human-rights, development, archaeology and religious institutions; consulates and missions
One of the densest non-profit and international-institution sectors of any city its size, and a common first job for foreign arrivals with languages and a research background.
Tourism, pilgrimage & heritage
Old City institutions, hotels, tour operators, the Israel Antiquities Authority
Religious tourism is structural rather than seasonal, and heritage, conservation and archaeology employ at a scale you would not expect from the city's size.
Where to go in Jerusalem
The Old City
Landmark ยท Walled city, east of the centre
A single square kilometre containing the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock and four distinct quarters.
Local tip: Enter through a different gate each time โ Damascus, Jaffa, Lions' and Zion gates deliver you into completely different cities. Go early on a weekday morning when the alleys belong to residents and deliveries rather than tour groups.
Mahane Yehuda Market
Food ยท City centre, off Jaffa Street
The city's great produce market by day, which since the 2010s turns into its busiest bar and restaurant district once the stalls roll their shutters down.
Local tip: Two entirely separate visits. Come Thursday or Friday morning for the pre-Shabbat crush and the best produce in the city, then again on a weekday night when the shutter art is visible and the bars are open.
Israel Museum & the Shrine of the Book
Culture ยท Givat Ram
Israel's national museum, holding the Dead Sea Scrolls and a large model of Jerusalem as it stood in the Second Temple period.
Local tip: See the scale model before you walk the Old City rather than after โ it makes the geography of the walls, valleys and gates click in a way no map does.
Emek Refaim & the German Colony
Neighborhood ยท South-west of the centre
A 19th-century Templer settlement turned leafy cafรฉ street, at the heart of the city's largest English-speaking neighbourhood.
Local tip: The most soft-landing part of Jerusalem for an Anglo newcomer, and the reason so many of them never leave the southern neighbourhoods. Walk south into Baka for the quieter, cheaper version of the same thing.
Ein Kerem
Hidden gemNature ยท South-western edge of the city
A stone village of churches, springs and terraced hillsides folded into a valley below Hadassah hospital, technically inside the city but nothing like it.
Local tip: Twenty minutes from the centre and almost entirely missed by visitors on a fixed itinerary. Walk the valley path, eat lunch on a terrace, and you will forget which city you are in.
The Armon HaNatziv promenade (Tayelet)
Hidden gemNature ยท South of the centre
A stone promenade along a ridge with the single best panorama of the Old City, the Judean Desert and the hills beyond.
Local tip: Go at sunset, when the limestone turns gold and the whole city lines up below you. Locals come here to walk after work; almost no visitors do.
Emergency numbers in Jerusalem
Compare Jerusalem withโฆ
Side-by-side cost of living, language, climate and careers โ to help you choose.