Knesset Veteran Moshe Gafni Secures Maximum 70% Budgetary Pension Ahead of Exit
Veteran lawmaker Moshe Gafni will not run in the upcoming Knesset elections, securing a maximum budgetary pension of 70% of his salary, estimated at 36,500 shekels monthly after nearly 35 years of service.
After nearly four decades in the Knesset, veteran lawmaker Moshe Gafni will not be included on the Degel HaTorah electoral list for the upcoming elections. However, his extensive years of service have already secured him the maximum budgetary pension permitted by law, set at 70% of his parliamentary salary.
The Path to Maximum Pension Entitlement
To understand how Gafni became eligible for a pension equivalent to 70% of his current salary, one must look back to November 21, 1988, when he entered the 12th Knesset. During that era, members of parliament benefited from a budgetary pension scheme granting an accumulation rate of 4% per year of service, funded directly from the state budget.
However, Gafni did not serve continuously since 1988. His initial term concluded in July 1992; he returned in June 1994, departed again in October 1998, and returned once more in June 1999. Since then, his tenure has been uninterrupted, reaching approximately 35 actual years of service by September 2026.
Rules governing the Knesset pension underwent significant changes midway through his career. At the start of the 14th Knesset on June 17, 1996, the accumulation rate was reduced from 4% to 2% per year, though the budgetary pension framework itself remained intact.
When Gafni returned to the Knesset on June 7, 1999, the budgetary pension track had already been officially closed to new entrants. Although the cutoff date was May 15—just 23 days earlier—the legislation included a specific loophole for veteran lawmakers.
Rules and Salary Adjustments Over Time
For those who had previously served, the transition to the new framework applied only to individuals returning after a break exceeding one year. Gafni's absence lasted merely seven and a half months, allowing him to retain his status within the budgetary pension track and continue accruing rights at the 2% annual rate.
Over the decades, the salary basis underpinning these calculations shifted significantly. In 1997, a Knesset member's gross monthly salary stood at 21,010 shekels; by 1999, it reached approximately 24,500 shekels; and by 2007, it climbed to 32,655 shekels. By 2023, factoring in cost-of-living adjustments, the salary reached 47,583 shekels, where it was subsequently frozen through 2024 and 2025.
Pension calculations do not accumulate historical salaries over time. Instead, the total percentage of eligibility accrued across all years of service is applied directly to the statutory salary benchmark at the time of retirement.
«Degel HaTorah can determine when his path on the electoral list concludes, but his decades of service have already secured the absolute ceiling.»
Projecting into 2026, a Knesset member's base salary is 48,739 shekels. Combined with a cost-of-living adjustment of approximately 3,408 shekels published at the end of 2025, the estimated monthly calculation base reaches roughly 52,147 shekels. Applying the maximum 70% accrual rate yields a gross monthly pension of approximately 36,500 shekels, translating to about 438,000 shekels annually.
