Before you start

A decision on which route applies before you commit to anything — the two share no paperwork
For aliyah: original birth and marriage certificates and grandparents' records proving Jewish lineage, filed with the Jewish Agency or Nefesh B'Nefesh before you fly
For a B/1: a named Israeli employer willing to sponsor. You cannot apply for yourself
An apostilled police clearance certificate from your home country
A passport with substantial remaining validity, plus an approved ETA-IL if you are visa-exempt

Step-by-step

1
Establish your route
Aliyah eligibility extends to a child, grandchild or spouse of a Jew under the 1970 amendment to the Law of Return, and excludes anyone who voluntarily changed religion. There is no equivalent fast track for anyone else.
OnlineWho: You
2
Aliyah: approve the file before you fly
The Jewish Agency, or Nefesh B'Nefesh from North America and the UK, pre-screens your lineage documents. Pre-approval is what makes citizenship near-automatic on landing. Applicants from France go through the Jewish Agency's own French-language channels.
OnlineWho: You, with the Jewish Agency or Nefesh B'NefeshCommonly 2–6 months
3
Aliyah: collect the biometric Teudat Zehut
You receive a Teudat Oleh and an ID number on arrival through Misrad HaKlita, then collect the biometric ID card at a PIBA office. Netanya's absorption apparatus is used to volume and to non-Hebrew speakers.
In personWho: You, with Misrad HaKlita and PIBAID number same day; card within about three months
4
B/1: the employer files
Your employer applies to PIBA for permission to employ you. The expert track requires them to pay at least twice the average Israeli wage — from 1 January 2026 the average wage is ₪13,566, so the bar is ₪27,132 a month gross — plus private medical insurance. The figure is reindexed every January.
Via employerWho: Your employerSeveral weeks to a few months
5
Visitor: ETA-IL, then a B/2 with no work rights
Most Western nationals get up to 90 days visa-free but must hold an approved ETA-IL before boarding. The B/2 permits tourism and business meetings only — including for anyone thinking of running a French-facing business from a Netanya flat.
OnlineWho: YouETA-IL approval usually within about 72 hours

Documents you’ll need

Passport with substantial remaining validity
Aliyah: original lineage documents for you, your parents and grandparents, plus a rabbinical letter where required
B/1: employer sponsorship and PIBA approval, a contract meeting the salary threshold, proof of private health insurance
Apostilled police clearance certificate
Degree certificates and professional credentials for the expert track
ETA-IL approval for visa-exempt visitors

Things most newcomers don’t know

Buying a Netanya flat is not a residency route, and a lot of people arrive believing otherwise.

Netanya has a very large non-resident property-owning population, much of it French, and the estate-agency market is built around it. Israel grants no residency for property purchase. Owning here gives you nothing beyond a home to visit, and spending most of the year in it on B/2 stamps is neither lawful as a residence nor safe against tax residency, which turns on centre of life rather than on a permit. Decide the status question separately from the property one.

Source: PIBA visa categories; Israel Tax Authority residency test

Ancestry decides your route, not your CV.

A candidate with a Jewish grandparent becomes a citizen with an ID card and an absorption grant within weeks. The identical professional without one needs an employer, a permit and a salary above twice the national average. People burn months on work-visa logistics without checking a family document, or assume aliyah is open to anyone relocating, which it is not.

Source: Law of Return 1950 as amended 1970; Nefesh B'Nefesh

The expert salary bar is indexed, so verify it against this January's figure.

The threshold is defined as twice the national average wage rather than a fixed number, and it moves every January. From 1 January 2026 the average wage is ₪13,566, making the bar ₪27,132 a month gross. Offers negotiated against last year's figure can fall under the line and sink the permit, and the fee is not refunded on refusal.

Source: PIBA foreign expert procedure

You can handle your whole arrival in French here, and that is a trap as well as a convenience.

Netanya's advisers, agents and community organisations work in French, which removes a great deal of friction from the first year. The cost is that Hebrew never becomes necessary, and three years later the job market, the school system and the fine print of a lease are still opaque. Every long-settled francophone here will tell you the same thing: book the ulpan in month one, while the friction is still uncomfortable enough to motivate you.

Source: community-reported, corroborated across Netanya's francophone community

Common mistakes to avoid

Believing that buying property in Netanya confers any right to live in Israel. It does not.
Assuming aliyah is open to anyone relocating to Israel — it is strictly ancestry- or spouse-based.
Working or freelancing locally on a B/2 visitor stamp. There is no digital-nomad visa.
Spending most of the year here on visitor stamps without checking where that leaves your tax residency.
Bringing photocopies or un-apostilled lineage and police documents.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.