What Is Nefesh B’Nefesh Career Continuation?

Nefesh B’Nefesh career continuation means keeping your professional income and career path intact as you make aliyah, rather than starting from zero after you land. Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) is the non-profit that facilitates aliyah from North America and the UK. It handles your application, your visa, and your first steps as an Oleh — but it does not employ you or pay your salary.

In practice, “career continuation” is the bridge between two worlds. On one side is your existing US career, employer, and income. On the other is your new life as an Israeli resident who needs to be paid legally, enrolled in Israeli benefits, and compliant with two tax systems. As of 2026, the cleanest way to build that bridge is through an Employer of Record (EOR) — a licensed Israeli company that becomes your legal employer while you keep doing the same work for the same people.

CWS Israel is Israel’s leading Employer of Record and freelancer services provider, and career continuation for Olim is one of the most common reasons professionals contact us. Our Olim First Steps programme was built specifically for this moment.

What Nefesh B’Nefesh Does — and the One Thing It Doesn’t

Nefesh B’Nefesh handles the aliyah process, not your employment. It guides your application, coordinates with the Jewish Agency and Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, arranges your Oleh status on landing, and connects you to your absorption basket (Sal Klita). Its employment team also offers career guidance, a job board, and skills training programmes.

As of 2026, the Nefesh B’Nefesh job board lists over 1,000 roles from more than 280 companies, and NBN runs short training tracks in areas like hi-tech sales, digital marketing, UX writing, and full-stack development. For medical professionals, it partners with the government on the International Medical Aliyah Program (IMAP).

But here is the one thing Nefesh B’Nefesh does not do: it never becomes your legal employer. It does not run Israeli payroll, does not remit your Bituach Leumi (National Insurance), does not open your pension, and does not issue you an Israeli payslip. Those functions belong to an employer — and if your employer is a US company with no Israeli entity, that is exactly where career continuation breaks down. This is the gap CWS Israel fills.

The Employment Gap: Why Career Continuation Needs a Legal Employer

The employment gap is the period after aliyah when you have Israeli residency but no compliant way to be paid. A US employer generally cannot legally run Israeli payroll without an Israeli entity, and you cannot receive an Israeli payslip, pension, or National Insurance credits from a foreign company. Without a fix, your Nefesh B’Nefesh career continuation stalls on day one.

An Employer of Record (EOR) is a third-party organisation that legally employs workers on your behalf, handling payroll, taxes, and compliance while your original company retains day-to-day management. Through an EOR, your US employer keeps you as a team member, CWS Israel becomes your legal Israeli employer of record, and you get a fully compliant Israeli employment relationship from the first day.

This structure solves the three problems Olim hit most often. First, your US company avoids creating an Israeli subsidiary just to keep one person. Second, you are paid legally in shekels with a proper Israeli payslip. Third, you immediately start accruing Israeli statutory rights — pension, severance, sick leave, and annual leave — instead of falling through the cracks. Learn more on our Employer of Record services page.

How Nefesh B’Nefesh Career Continuation Works Through an EOR — Step by Step

Career continuation through an EOR follows a simple five-step process, and CWS Israel completes onboarding in as little as 48 hours. You keep your role; we handle the legal employment. Here is exactly how it works from your NBN aliyah date onward.

Step 1 — Plan before you land. Contact CWS Israel while your Nefesh B’Nefesh application is in progress. We map your salary, your employer’s needs, and your Oleh tax status so nothing is left to chance on arrival.

Step 2 — Sign your Israeli employment contract. CWS Israel issues an English-language Israeli contract. You remain managed day-to-day by your existing US company; we become the legal employer on paper.

Step 3 — Register with the authorities. We enrol you with the Israel Tax Authority and Bituach Leumi, and open your pension fund. This is what connects you to Israeli healthcare and social benefits.

Step 4 — Run compliant monthly payroll. You receive a proper Israeli payslip each month, with all deductions, employer contributions, and Oleh benefits applied correctly.

Step 5 — Stay compliant as you settle. CWS Israel manages ongoing filings, your PwC-reviewed compliance, and any changes as your career evolves in Israel.

What You Get: Your Rights as an EOR Employee in Israel

As an EOR employee, you receive every Israeli statutory right an ordinary employee gets — nothing is diluted by the arrangement. From day one you are a fully protected Israeli worker. Below are the core entitlements that come with compliant career continuation in 2026.

📄 A legal Israeli payslip every month, in shekels, that banks, landlords, and mortgage lenders in Israel recognise.
💰 Pension contributions — as of 2026, employers contribute 6.5% of salary to your pension, plus 8.33% toward severance, once eligibility begins.
🛡️ Bituach Leumi (National Insurance) — employer contributions in 2026 run roughly 3.55% to 7.6% of gross salary, unlocking your Israeli healthcare and social coverage.
💼 Paid leave — a statutory minimum of 14 annual leave days, plus 1.5 sick days accrued per month, and recovery pay (Dmei Havraah).

You also keep the intangible benefit that matters most to Olim: continuity. Your income does not stop, your career does not reset, and you are not scrambling to explain your status to Israeli institutions. If you are weighing your options, our guide on keeping your job when making aliyah goes deeper on the employer conversation.

Nefesh B’Nefesh vs an Employer of Record: Who Does What

Nefesh B’Nefesh and an Employer of Record are complementary, not competing. NBN moves you to Israel; the EOR keeps you employed and paid once you arrive. The table below shows exactly where each one fits in your career continuation plan.

The takeaway: use Nefesh B’Nefesh for the move, and use an EOR like CWS Israel for the employment. Together they make full career continuation possible. Compare packages on our EOR pricing page.

Tax and Compliance for US Professionals After Aliyah

US professionals making aliyah face two tax systems at once, but new immigrants receive powerful relief in Israel. As of 2026, an Oleh Chadash generally keeps a 10-year exemption from Israeli tax on foreign-source income under the Income Tax Ordinance. This is one of the strongest incentives for career continuation.

Two 2026 details matter. First, the 10-year foreign-income exemption remains in place, but a recent amendment means anyone who becomes a resident on or after 1 January 2026 must now report that foreign income and assets to the Israel Tax Authority — the exemption from tax stays, the exemption from reporting is gone. Second, US citizens remain subject to US worldwide taxation and to FBAR reporting on Israeli bank accounts, so both systems apply in parallel.

Because these rules are individual and changed in 2026, treat the figures here as general information, not personal tax advice, and confirm your position with a qualified cross-border tax advisor. CWS Israel is not a law firm or tax advisor, but our payroll and compliance are reviewed annually by PwC, and we coordinate cleanly with whichever advisor you choose. For the current landscape, see our 2026 Olim tax exemption guide.

Frequently Asked Questions