Your First Week In Israel
Your First Week in Israel: A Day-by-Day Plan for New Olim
A detailed, day-by-day plan for the seven days that set up everything else — without burning out in the first.
Your first week is not about finishing your aliyah admin — it's about laying the few foundations everything else depends on, while jet-lagged and overwhelmed. Get those right, at a humane pace, and the rest of the bureaucracy unspools naturally over the following weeks.
The foundations to aim for are short: a working Israeli phone number (it unlocks everything else), an Israeli bank account (for your absorption payments and daily life), registration with Misrad HaKlita and Bituach Leumi, and a health fund chosen with your biometric Teudat Zehut appointment booked.
Don't try to do it all at once. Every one of these can be started with your temporary documents and finished later. Trying to complete everything in seven exhausted days is how olim burn out in week one. Aim to start the foundations and book the appointments — not to cross a finish line that doesn't exist.
Day one: the airport, then rest
You land, people may clap, and it hits you — you're home. Before baggage claim you'll be directed to the aliyah processing desk, which does the most important paperwork of your whole first week in one sitting.
There you receive your Teudat Oleh (immigrant certificate for the family — your key to oleh benefits), a temporary Teudat Zehut valid for about three months that you can use immediately, usually an initial SIM card and Israeli number plus health-fund instructions, and onward transport help (eligible olim often have a taxi arranged).
Then stop. Genuinely. Don't attempt errands on arrival day. Get to your accommodation, sleep, eat, and let the adrenaline settle. Guard the documents you were just given — they're the keys to the entire week ahead — and start fresh tomorrow.
Why the order matters
The single thing that makes the first week feel chaotic is doing tasks in the wrong order. Almost everything runs on two things — an Israeli phone number and a bank account — so those come first.
Phone first. Appointment systems, banks, and government offices all confirm by SMS to an Israeli number. Without one, you're stuck at the first step of everything.
Bank second. Your absorption payments land in an Israeli account, and you'll need it for rent, utilities, and a health fund.
Then the agencies. Misrad HaKlita, Bituach Leumi, your health fund, and the Teudat Zehut appointment all follow once the phone and bank are in place.
Get connected: a working Israeli number
If you didn't get a SIM at the airport, this is errand number one. You only need your passport; a prepaid SIM from any carrier shop gets you a working number in minutes, and you can switch to a proper monthly plan once you're settled.
The big networks (Cellcom, Partner, Pelephone, Hot Mobile) have shops everywhere; budget operators (Golan, 019, Rami Levy) are cheaper. If you're keeping your home number for WhatsApp, go dual-SIM — decide this before you remove your old SIM. Install the essentials now: WhatsApp (how Israel communicates), Waze or Google Maps, and your bank's app once you have an account.
WhatsApp is not optional here. Businesses, clinics, landlords, and even government offices run on it. Getting it working on a number people can reach is part of being functional in Israel — sort it in the first days, not the first month.
Open a bank account: the hub for everything
With a phone working, open an Israeli bank account — ideally in the first few days, because your absorption payments need somewhere to land. Bring your passport, Teudat Oleh (or temporary Teudat Zehut), and proof of address if you have it.
Ask for the oleh package by name — many banks waive fees for a year or two for new immigrants and won't volunteer it. The big banks (Hapoalim, Leumi, Mizrahi-Tefahot, Discount, FIBI) all have English-speaking staff. You'll get a debit card quickly; a credit card takes months of history to build.
Don't bring your life savings over yet. Open the account and move what you need for the coming weeks — via a service like Wise rather than a bank wire — but keep major savings in a stable currency until you've settled.
Misrad HaKlita: registering as an oleh
The Ministry of Aliyah & Integration (Misrad HaKlita) is where you formally activate your oleh benefits. Register early — it sets your absorption payments in motion and connects you to ulpan and other rights.
Registration sets up your Sal Klita (סל קליטה, the absorption basket — a series of payments over your first months, deposited to your Israeli bank account, with amounts depending on your family and updated regularly, so confirm current figures), your ulpan entitlement (subsidised Hebrew study), and guidance on your rights — grants, tax benefits, and the support you're entitled to as a new immigrant.
If you made aliyah from North America or the UK, Nefesh B'Nefesh works alongside Misrad HaKlita and can guide the registration, benefits, and paperwork — a free resource worth using from your first days.
Bituach Leumi and health: getting covered
Two linked steps put you into Israel's healthcare system — one of the genuine joys of living here once you're in it.
Register with Bituach Leumi. The National Insurance Institute covers health, plus social benefits like disability and maternity. Registration is often triggered automatically, but confirm it — your health coverage flows through it.
Choose a health fund (קופת חולים). Pick one of the four funds — Clalit, Maccabi, Meuhedet, or Leumit — and register at a post office or the fund's branch. All provide comprehensive cover; choose on the clinics and hospitals near you, English-speaking service, and what friends in your area recommend.
Register a fund even while everything else is pending. Health coverage is too important to leave for "later in the month." Choosing a קופת חולים is quick, and it means a doctor is available the moment anyone in the family needs one. You can switch funds down the line if it isn't the right fit.
Book your Teudat Zehut: the first-week priority
Your permanent biometric Teudat Zehut is the document that makes you fully functional — and the appointment is the one thing most worth doing this week, because slots fill fast and processing takes weeks.
Book through MyVisit (myvisit.com) or by phone on *3450 — you need your Israeli number for the SMS confirmation. You can book at any branch in the country, not just your local one — check smaller cities if your area is full. Meanwhile, gather your apostilled originals (birth and marital certificates, proof of Judaism, background checks) so you're ready when the date comes.
Book now even if the date is weeks away. The appointment can be a month out, and your temporary card only lasts three — so the sooner it's in the calendar, the better.
Getting around and the daily-life basics
Alongside the agencies, a handful of small things make the week livable.
Moving around. Get a Rav-Kav (רב-קו) card for buses and trains — load it at a kiosk or app, and use Moovit for routes in English. Your foreign driving licence is valid for up to a year before you convert it.
Settling the home. Stock up on groceries — Shufersal, Rami Levy, and the local makolet (corner shop) for the basics. Sort utilities and internet for your address (electricity, water, gas, internet) when you can. Keep some cash for small vendors and markets, and set up Bit on your phone once your card is active.
Walk your neighbourhood early. Find the nearest supermarket, pharmacy (beit merkachat), clinic, bus stop, and makolet in the first days. Knowing your immediate surroundings does more for the feeling of being settled than any single piece of paperwork.
Ulpan and community: Hebrew and your people
Two investments in the first week pay off for years: starting on Hebrew, and plugging into a community.
Register for ulpan. Through Misrad HaKlita or your municipality, register for ulpan — intensive subsidised Hebrew classes, typically five mornings a week for several months. Even a few words make daily life easier and the bureaucracy friendlier; start as soon as a class is available.
Find your people. Join the local WhatsApp and Facebook groups for your city and for olim — plumbers, babysitters, advice, and friends all live there. Introduce yourself to neighbours and your building's va'ad bayit. And find an oleh a year or two ahead of you — a mentor who has just done all this is worth more than any guide.
Look after yourself: the part that's easy to skip
The first week is exhilarating and exhausting at once — jet lag, a new language, endless forms, and the enormity of what you've done all landing together. Treating your own wellbeing as a task on the list, not an afterthought, is what gets you through it well.
Pace it — one or two big errands a day is plenty; spreading the admin over the week beats collapsing on day three. Rest and eat properly; jet lag plus bureaucracy is brutal on an empty stomach and no sleep. Expect a dip — the early euphoria is often followed by overwhelm, and that's a normal part of the adjustment, not a sign you've made a mistake. And lean on people; other olim understand exactly what this week feels like, so reach out rather than carrying it alone.
Celebrate the small wins. Ordering coffee in Hebrew, finding your supermarket, getting one form stamped — these are real victories in week one. Notice them. The paperwork will get done; being kind to yourself while it does is what makes the landing soft.
A realistic seven-day plan
No two arrivals run identically — offices, holidays, and energy levels vary — but this sequence keeps the dependencies in the right order:
DayFocus1Land, airport aliyah desk, get to your accommodation — and rest.2Get the phone working; orient locally; groceries and cash; sleep off the jet lag.3Open the bank account; book the Teudat Zehut appointment on MyVisit.4Register with Misrad HaKlita; confirm Bituach Leumi.5Choose and register a health fund; get a Rav-Kav and learn the buses.6Register for ulpan; join community groups; walk the neighbourhood.7Catch your breath — follow up loose ends, rest before week two.
Slip a day and nothing breaks. Treat this as a guide, not a deadline. If an office is closed, a slot is full, or you simply need to sleep, shift it a day. The order matters; the exact dates don't.
In closing: foundations, not a finish line
The first week feels enormous because it is — but its real job is small and specific: get a phone and a bank account working, register with the agencies, choose a health fund, and book your Teudat Zehut. Everything else can wait for week two, week three, and the months beyond. You are not behind; you are exactly where every oleh has stood, blinking in the Mediterranean light with a folder of documents.
If you do nothing else this week: get a working Israeli number, open a bank account, register with Misrad HaKlita and a health fund, and book the Teudat Zehut appointment. Those five things are the foundation — and you can start every one of them on your temporary documents.
Procedures and amounts change, so confirm current details with the relevant office.
Welcome home.
Want a hand sequencing it for your own situation, or hit a wall with an office, an appointment, or a form? That's exactly what Olim Advice is here for — free, for every oleh. Reach out and we'll walk you through it.