Last January MK salaries went up by 3.4%. This coming January members are set to get a 3-3.5% raise.
By LAHAV HARKOVThe Knesset (photo credit: REUTERS)Knesset members are set to get a 3% to 3.5% raise in January to over NIS 45,000 ($12,730) per month, after a year of almost no parliamentary work.The 20th Knesset dissolved itself in December 2018 ahead of an April election, but the 21st Knesset only lasted for about a month, with a few meetings, before another election was called for September. The 22nd Knesset was inaugurated last month and immediately went into recess for the High Holy Days and Sukkot.Lawmakers, the president, prime minister, ministers, deputy ministers and judges are updated each January according to the average salary increase in the Israeli economy, Calcalist pointed out on Wednesday.According to the National Insurance Institute, the average salary from July 2018 to July 2019 went up 3.4%.In January, lawmakers’ salaries went up 3.4%. MKs currently make NIS 44,019 per month before taxes, and a 3% raise will bring that to NIS 45,339.In past years, some MKs have opted out of the pay raise, a move spearheaded by Yesh Atid, or pledged to donate it to charity.When the law was changed in 2016 to allow MKs to give up the extra pay, 32 lawmakers did so. The following year, only seven did. In 2018, only four gave up the pay raise.
