HOLY LAND BOOK - Draft

The Bilateral Work Agreement between
Israel and the United States allows EFMs
to obtain unrestricted work permits to
work for any employer in Israel.
compliance with local laws and Department
of State regulations, and provide
medical and national (work accident)
insurance.
The work permit application process
is initiated at Post and normally takes
4months.
The work permit is issued for one year
at a time and can be extended up to 63
months.
The local job market is highly competitive,
as many Israelis are university educated
and speak English fluently.
However, Israel’s large tech industry offers
job opportunities in positions such
as IT, marketing, sales/customer service,
technical writing, social network coordination,
and others that may not require
Hebrew fluency. Intel, HP, IBM, Cisco and
other multinational corporations have
established research centers in Israel and
may seek computer programmers and
engineers.
There is also a demand for English teachers,
particularly in international schools,
such as WBAIS, and private language
institutes, such as Berlitz or The Wall
Street Institute. Although lawyers and
accountants will encounter steep competition
in Israel, there are private firms
and international organizations that seek
professionals with U.S. training.
Salaries in Israel are generally lower
than in the United States, particularly for
entry-level positions. Local taxes will be
deducted from the salary.
Family members must have
Chief of Mission approval before
accepting outside employment or
engaging in a home-based business or
other outside activities.
When hiring a third country national (TCN)
from abroad or locally, three forms are
required: an undertaking form, completed
by the sponsor; a visa application form,
completed by the domestic employee;
and, a declaration form, completed by
both parties. The HR Office can provide
details. The MFA approves all requests for
TCN domestic hires.
There are strict guidelines on domestic
employee salaries and benefits, as well as
length of time TCN domestic employees
may remain in Israel. If you are interested
in sponsoring a domestic employee in
Israel, please contact the HR Office at
TelAvivHRO@state.gov.
14. OpenNet and ClassNet Migration
For State Department employees, in order
to have your existing OpenNet and Class-
Net user accounts migrated to Tel Aviv,
you will need to do the following:
Provide your current OpenNet and Class-
Net systems administrators (and complete
the applicable bureau/post specific forms,
if required) with the following information
before you leave:
a. Departure date
b. Onward assignment to Tel Aviv
c. Reporting date
d. State Department email addresses
(example: doejx@state.gov
and doejx@state.sgov.gov)
Ask them to open tickets with the IT
Service Center (ITServiceCenter@state.
gov) in order to coordinate your account
moves.
Please contact the HR Office for details on
that process.
13. Domestic Employees
To successfully transfer your account to
your gaining post, your Outlook folder
size (including subfolders) MUST be
100MB or less.
Domestic employees can be hired locally
or from abroad.
In either case, a sponsor must complete
a contract agreement with the domestic
employee, complete a declaration of
Once this is completed, notify your new
supervisor or section that you will be
arriving and request that they submit an
OpenNet access request to the Tel Aviv
ISC and a ClassNet access request to the
IPC.