The money has already reached the workers, but not the businesses: almost 600 million shekels have been paid out in error, while companies are waiting for the Knesset’s decision

On April 12, 2026, the National Insurance Institute transferred about 598 million shekels to approximately 100,000 recipients of benefits and payments under the halat. These are people whose employment was affected by the war with Iran: about 70,000 of them continue to receive unemployment benefits, and another 30,000 are private sector employees who filed new claims in March.

At first glance, this looks like good news: the state has nevertheless launched a cash flow into the labor market.

But already in the next line, a problem arises that sounds much harsher for the Israeli economy now. Workers have started receiving money, but business owners, whose turnovers have fallen by at least a quarter, as of April 12, still have not received a single shekel of compensation. Ynet also wrote about this, emphasizing that the corresponding government plan for businesses is stuck in parliamentary procedure.

For the Israeli audience, this is one of the most sensitive topics of recent weeks. When, against the backdrop of war, the state relatively quickly transfers money to the personal accounts of hired workers but leaves companies without an immediate liquidity cushion, the economy becomes skewed. People are temporarily saved from a complete collapse of income, but the business, which must maintain jobs, rent, suppliers, and taxes, remains in limbo.

What has already been paid and to whom exactly

According to Ynet on April 12, the money was credited to the recipients’ accounts on the same day, which was previously designated as the date of the first payment. This happened despite the short interval between the approval of the scheme in the Knesset and the actual processing of payments. On the official page of Bituach Leumi, it is separately noted that the halat scheme itself was agreed upon and passed through a vote on March 31, 2026, and it should operate during the emergency period until April 14, with the possibility of extension for another month if the situation does not improve.

An important detail that caused noticeable irritation in the business community concerns not only the timing but also the very volume of assistance. Ynet writes that public sector workers received their full March salary, even if they were in halat during the war days. But for private sector workers, the ceiling of payments is set at up to 70% of the usual salary, depending on income and the duration of absence.

On the Bituach Leumi website, this rule is officially confirmed: the size of the halat benefit ranges from about 30% to 70% of earnings, and the right to it arises under certain conditions. One of the key ones is that a person must be in halat for at least ten consecutive days. This relaxation itself was already presented as a concession because the usual requirements are stricter, but for families living paycheck to paycheck, even such a mechanism does not remove the main question: how to cover the shortfall in the remaining 30–70% of income.

At the same time, the flow of applications is not exhausted. According to Ynet, as of April 12, Bituach Leumi has already received about 40,000 new applications for unemployment and halat benefits, and this money is expected to be paid later, already next month. That is, the current 598 million shekels is not the final amount, but only the first major tranche in a much longer story of military compensation.

Why the gap between the public and private sectors has become such a painful topic

Politically and socially, this is perhaps the most explosive part of the whole story. Israelis understand well the logic of emergency assistance when people need to be quickly given money for basic expenses. But they equally well see how differently the state approached employees of the budget system and the private labor market.

One received 100% of the March salary, another a maximum of 70%, and the owner of a small business, who keeps these people employed, has not yet seen any compensation. It is from such imbalance that the current wave of criticism arises: not against the payments themselves, but against the fact that the support scheme looks incomplete and asymmetrical.

Why businesses are still without money

Ynet directly indicated on April 12 that businesses that lost at least 25% of turnover during the war days still have not received compensation from the Tax Authority. The reason is that the plan initiated by the Ministry of Finance passed only the first reading in the Knesset and has not been finally approved. Because of this, the money cannot be transferred quickly, and the scheme itself may still change.

The Jerusalem Post wrote back on March 26 that the compensation mechanism for enterprises was indeed advanced only to the stage of the first reading. It was then clarified that it is primarily about helping small and medium-sized businesses: state participation in covering fixed costs, partial assistance with payroll expenses, and a separate line for those whose property was damaged by rocket attacks. But between ‘advanced’ and ‘money already in the account’ in Israeli bureaucratic reality often lie weeks — and sometimes critical cash gaps.

It is here that the story ceases to be just an economic news and becomes a news about survival. If the Knesset does not convene promptly and does not pass the scheme through the second and third readings, small companies will remain without compensation for several more weeks. Ynet, citing industry estimates, wrote that many businesses are already facing severe liquidity problems, and some of them, according to self-employed organizations, are at risk of closure and bankruptcy.

At this point, NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency sees the main nerve of the situation: the state managed to show that it can quickly transfer hundreds of millions of shekels to individuals, but has not yet proven that it can just as quickly keep the business fabric of the country afloat. And without this, any payment to a worker becomes a temporary patch, not a recovery strategy.

What this means for the Israeli economy right now

In the short term, halat payments reduce social tension. Families receive at least some predictability, banks see the movement of funds, and consumption does not stop immediately. This is an important stabilizer, especially against the backdrop of a protracted war and a general sense of fatigue in society.

But in the medium term, everything hinges on something else. If a business does not receive compensation for the lost turnover, it has nothing to cover rent, loans, supplies, taxes, and payroll obligations to those who did not go into halat. Then, in a few weeks, the economy faces not just a temporary downturn, but a cascade of cuts, closures, and increased debt pressure.

That is why the news about almost 600 million shekels cannot be read as a story about a solved problem. As of April 12, 2026, Israel has launched one half of the anti-crisis scheme — support for hired workers. The second half, namely the prompt compensation to businesses, is still stuck in the legislative corridor. And until this gap is closed, the market will continue to live in the logic of an anxious pause: the money has already gone, but the relief has not yet become a full-fledged salvation.