IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi made a gross salary of NIS 101,831 a month in 2021, it was revealed in the Finance Ministry's defense establishment salary expenses report published on Wednesday.
The report also revealed that Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai made NIS 91,070 a month while Israel Prison Service Commissioner Katy Perry earned a gross NIS 94,185 a month last year.
The annual report, written by the Finance Ministry's director of salary and employment agreements Kobi Bar-Natan, further found that the average wage for defense establishment employees stood at NIS 11,337 among IDF officers and at NIS 30,385 among those working in Defense Ministry-affiliated authorities.
The biggest rise in average wage was recorded among secret services employees, who saw a 3.4% rise from 2019 to 2021.
Female IDF soldiers earn 25% less than their male counterparts
Female IDF soldiers earn 25% less than their male counterparts, according to the Finance Ministry report.
The report noted that the gender wage gap is not closing as quickly as it is in other branches of government, since the defense establishment includes combat positions and other roles which are not open for women or have only recently opened for women.
The prison service has a much smaller wage gap (just 5%), although it is more than double what it was a few years ago when it stood at 2.2%. The gap also widened significantly among civilians working in the military (from 16.1% to 22.1%) and slightly among the police (from 15.4% to 17.1%).
Following the release of the report, Bar-Natan said that the "unstable" global labor market "creates new challenges in hiring and retaining the defense establishment's workforce, which is also affected by these challenges."
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.