חוק שירות אזרחי (תיקון מס' 7), התשפ"ה-2025Civil Service Law (Amendment No. 7), 2025 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

This Law includes several amendments concerning the national service or community volunteering framework, carried out on behalf of the state by persons who are exempt from military service or were not called up for it. First, the maximum age for service for people coping with mental health conditions was raised from 24 to 27 years. Second, it is established that the authority to approve breaks in service or a reduced quota of hours will be given not only to the Director of the Civil Service Authority but also to a senior official authorized to do so, and in a state of emergency the Authority's Director will be able to personally approve a break not exceeding one year due to the emergency circumstances. It is also established that the period of time between preliminary training considered part of the service and the actual commencement of service will not interrupt the continuity of service, but also will not be counted as part of the service duration itself. Third, the Authority's Director was authorized to establish rules enabling volunteers from populations requiring assistance in employment integration, as well as volunteers in their second year, to participate, at the expense of service hours, in vocational training or completion of education. In addition, the Law establishes provisions regarding the operating bodies and type of activity: first, volunteering will be permitted at the National Institutions (the Jewish Agency, the World Zionist Organization, Keren Hayesod, and the Jewish National Fund), as well as at operating bodies that are not a public authority in the fields of agriculture and technology relating to computer software or computer hardware, provided that their activity improves the quality of life or safety of the entire population in Israel. Regarding these bodies, it is established that in the field of agriculture, service will be performed only at non-profit organizations, and in the field of technology, only if the rights holder allows any Israeli citizen or resident free and unpaid use of the software or hardware. It is also established that a corporation established by law may be an operating body, provided that its activity is within the fields listed in Section 65(a)(1) of the Law. It is further established that service will also be permitted, without restriction to specific fields as exists for government hospitals and other public authorities, at a non-governmental hospital that is a non-profit organization or a supervised body fulfilling a public function. In addition, the ability of a public authority to encourage volunteering by funding positions at operating bodies will be expanded to also include volunteers who are new immigrants, Arabs, Druze, Circassians, or persons who are not citizens or residents of Israel but have been approved to perform national service. A further amendment clarifies that an approval under Section 46 of the Income Tax Ordinance does not exempt the operating body from proving that it operates in the fields required by the Law. Finally, the Law postpones the date for completing the official recognition process for bodies that were operating at the commencement date of the Law in 2018, from 31 August 2025 to 31 August 2027.

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