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Negotiating your taxi fare in Israel.

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Negotiating your taxi fare in Israel.
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Negotiating your taxi fare – A typical conversation with a taxi driver with Hebrew transliterations.

 taxi fare israel

 

As of 24.6.2019 the base taxi fare has increased to 12.40 NIS – a 40 agorot increase. It’s one thing to know the base rate but there are extras; 5.20 NIS for a telephone order, 4.40 NIS for a suitcase, 5 NIS for more than 2 passengers, (click here for the full taxi fare calculator and list of extra charges).  Whether you are taking a taxi from Ben Gurion International Airport, in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Haifa, or any other city in Israel, the base rate is the same (12.40). If you prefer not to opt for the metered rate and negotiate a flat rate for the journey, it is imperative to know how to negotiate your taxi fare in Israel.

We’ve put together a typical conversation. Familiarize yourselves with it and it can save you from a frustrating situation.

Legend:  * = the taxi driver / – = the passenger

*Le’an ata ro’tzeh linso’a – Where do you want to go to?

-Ani ro’tzeh le’ha’giya le rechov Herzl – I want to go to Herzl St.

-Ka’ma ze oleh – How much does it cost?

*Shlo’shim ve’ha’mesh shach – 35 shekels (“shach” being the abbreviated form of  shekel hadash – The New Israeli Shekel)

-Ma? Shlo’shim ve’ha’mesh shach! Bederech klal ani meshalem rak 25 – What? So much! I usually pay 25

*Be’seder, be’seder.  Az 30 shach – Okay, okay, 30 shekels!

Whatever you do, prior to the negotiation, do not let on that you do not know where you are or that you are new in town.  The taxi driver will use this information to his financial advantage.

Now your taxi driver (Hebrew: nehag) may be a shrewd businessman.  Once you are in the taxi, he may say:

*Ani ya’chol le asof et ha achyan sheli be’derech – Do you mind if I pick up my “nephew” along the way?

*Ani hiftachti le’asot lo tovah, ve lakachat oto le kenyon, sh’be’derech. I promised to do him a favor and drop him at the shopping center that is en-route.

You can be sure that there is no nephew and no favor.  This can be the taxi drivers’ way of getting an additional fare for the same trip.  Naturally you have every right to refuse. 

He might also say, when he drops you at your destination

*Ani mekaveh sh’yaish lecha kesef katan – I hope you have the right amount of money

*Ki ain li odef – As I do not have any change

He may suggest making a detour via the nearest shop to arrange some change…

*Ani yachol le asot sivuv le makolet lakachat odef

Put your foot down, this is not your problem, he must come up with the change.  If you suggest that he drop you off at your destination (let’s say your house), without paying him obviously, and you will wait a few minutes for  him to arrange the change somehow and then he can bring it to you.  This is what you’d say…

-Ta’atzor li leyad habayit sheli, ve ani echakeh lecha kamma dakot, ad she ata mavi li et ha’odef.

Wait and see if he miraculously can come up with the money!

You may however encounter an honest taxi driver and he may come right out and ask if he can pick up another fare along the way.  If the taxi driver does not agree to give you a reduced fare, you should refuse.

To be fair (no pun intended), taxi drivers all around the world are known to be chancers.

– Ani rotzeh et haheshbonit mas bevakasha – Please can you give me the the tax invoice?

– Todah! Yom na’im – Thanks! Have a pleasant day.

Note: if you are using an app like Gett, a metered rate is the only option (plus the surcharge)

Israel Railways: Netanya Sapir, Bet Yehoshua, Herzliya Train Station Shutdown.

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Israel Train Station Shutdowns: Netanya,  Sapir, Bet Yehoshua & Herzliya

Major train station shutdowns this week!  Commencing Thursday, 16th March, 2017 at 22:00 and until Sunday, 19th March at 05:00 the Netanya Sapir,  Bet Yehoshua and  Herzliya train stations will be shut down for maintenance and repairs.

Trains from the North, southward bound, will complete their journey at Netanya station.

Trains from the South, northward bound, will complete their journey at Herzliya station.

The Herzliya – Jerusalem/Beit Shemesh train will leave from and return to Tel Aviv Central Savidor

The Hod HaSharon – Beit Shemesh train will be operating as usual

And very, very important

The night-train to NATBAG – Ben Gurion International Airport – will leave from and return to Netanya

A free shuttle service between Netanya –> Airport –> Netanya will be put in place on Thursday, 16th between 22:00 and midnight.

From midnight on the 16th – 05:00 a.m. on the 17th, a direct shuttle will be put in place between Netanya and Ben Gurion, from Ben Gurion via Herzliya and from Tel Aviv Savidor to Netanya

From 05:01 on Friday, March 17th a direct shuttle service will be put in place between Netanya and Ben Gurion

A New Way to Use the Rav Kav Smart Multi-Ride Transport Card

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A New Way to Use the Rav Kav Smart Multi-Ride Transport Card

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Don’t waste time, don’t stand in line! A new way to use the Rav Kav smart transport card

You might have noticed that some buses, in Israel, have been fitted with electronic devices close to the rear doors. Until now, we had no idea what they were meant for. Well it turns out that this device is an electronic reader that will validate your Rav Kav Smart multi-ride transport card. This new way of validating your Rav Kav is expected to save the bus driver time and save you aggravation by not having to stand in line.

Until now the rear doors of the bus were used for alighting passengers only. Now, on selected routes around the country, you can board the bus via the rear doors and validate your pre-loaded Rav Kav Smart Card by pressing it against the display screen of the device.

We emphasize that this service is still being introduced and will only be available in selected cities and towns and on selected routes.

A customer service representative at The Ministry of Transport told us (Tel: *8787) that this service is available in Beer Sheva, Haifa and Tel Aviv only.  Eilat and Jerusalem will follow soon.  The customer service rep was unable to give an exact date for each location and was unable to tell us when the rest of the country would be incorporated into the new system.

How to identify the ‘don’t waste time, don’t stand in line’ routes?

If you don’t read Hebrew very well yet, large, lime green arrows on the rear doors of the bus are prominently displayed as illustrated in the image below.

Rav Kav Smart Card back door validation
Image Credit: Egged & The Ministry of Transport

  • FYI – we used this new validation method in Haifa recently and the downside was that after validating the Rav Kav, we turned around to move to some empty seats near the front end of the bus and got entangled in a  people-jam caused by other passengers moving toward the back of the bus. Hopefully these people-jams will sort themselves out when passengers are more familiar with the system.
  • Rochelle, a reader from Jerusalem, pointed out that if you load your RavKav with the 30 NIS, 50 NIS or 100 NIS option and validate it this new way, you won’t get a printed ticket that tells you how many rides you have left and the cash balance on your RavKav card.  Thanks Rochelle!
  • An Anglo-List member in Tel Aviv sent us this information:  “The frame of light around the electronic reader is blue to begin with (when it’s “ready” to read a card). After you hold up your card, it will turn either red or green, before turning blue again. Always move your card away as quickly as possible after it changes color, so you can see what it says on the screen.  If it turns green: your ride has been confirmed. The date, time, amount debited (if any), and the current balance, will all appear for a few seconds.”

If for some reason your Rav Kav does not validate on the electronic reader, you must approach the bus driver and validate your Rav Kav in the usual manner.

Cash paying passengers must enter via the front doors, and pay their fare to the bus driver. (Update: it is no longer possible to purchase a ticket of any type from the driver.  All fares are pre-loaded on the Rav Kav)

Purim Celebrations: Fun, parades, dress-up and resources.

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Purim Celebrations: Fun, parades, dress-up and resources.
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Purim resources and fun stuff.  Come celebrate Purim with us!

Image Credit: Unsplash

 

The significance and concepts of the Fast of Esther and Purim

A Purim Adloyadah near you

Learn Purim words with our free word sheet – Hebrew, English and transliterations

My son in the White House! Purim jokes, riddles and cheer

Why do we dress up on Purim? Rav Makor explains

Get the best deal: fancy dress outfits, mishloach manot and other Purim fare from our Price Check

Hammentaschen just like bobba used to make step-by-step and other delicious stuff

Purim from a cardboard box – 10 easy, economical costumes for the kids

Purim costume ideas – inflatables

Make a splash with a funny, crazy hat to knit, sew or buy.

Why do we send Mishloach Manot on Purim? What are Matanot L’evyonim

Train Station Shutdown: Yavne – Ashkelon.

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Upcoming Train Station Shutdown Yavne – Ashkelon

Israel Rail have announced that due renovations of the railways the following lines will be shut down from tonight, Thursday 23rd February at 11 p.m. – Sunday 26th February, 2017 at 5 a.m.:

  • Ashdod Station will be shut down for passengers traffic.
  • Trains coming from the North will terminate at Yavne West or Yavne East Stations
  • Trains coming from the South will terminate at Ashkelon Station

Shuttle services will be available between these two routes:

  1. Yavne West – Ashdod – Ashkelon
  2. Yavne East – Ashdod – Ashkelon

Israel public transport services & resources

March 2017 Tel Aviv Train Shutdown

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March 2017 Tel Aviv Train Shutdown

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Tel Aviv Train Stations to Close in March 2017

Hahaganah Train Station - Tel Aviv
Hahaganah Train Station – Tel Aviv

Temporary Shutdown of Tel Aviv HaShalom Station

Due to work on the Light Rail by the NTA Company, the following changes to the train schedule will come into effect just after midnight on Sunday (5.3.17) at  00:01 and will remain in place until Sunday 12.3.17 at 05:00 – the segment of Tel Aviv Savidor Central – Tel Aviv HaHagana and Tel Aviv HaShalom Stations will be closed.

The changes:

  • Rail traffic from or to the  North: shall begin and end at Tel Aviv Savidor Central Station.
  • Rail traffic from or to the South: shall begin and end at Tel Aviv HaHagana Station.
  • Jerusalem – Herzliya Line: the rail traffic will begin and end at Lod Station.

A designated travel route bypassing Tel Aviv Stations will be operated at the passengers’ disposal:

Coming from North: From Nahariya Station/ Haifa, Herzliya, Lod, Ramla, Kiryat Gat, Lehavim-Rahat Stations up to Be’er Sheva Stations

Coming from South: from Be’er Sheva, Lehavim-Rahat, Kiryat Gat, Ramla, Lod, Herzliya Stations up to Haifa/ Nahariya Stations

o   Stoppage at Ramla Station on Sun-Thu

o   Stoppage at Binyamina Station on Fri only

    Night trains to Ben Gurion Airport: will operate from/to Tel Aviv Savidor Central Station. Shuttle services will be operated (free of charge) in both directions

Hod Hasharon – Tel Aviv Line:

o   Commencing on Mon 6.3.17 (from 06:00 pm) and until Tue 7.3.17 (at 06:00 am)

o   Commencing on Thu 9.3.17 (from 08:00 pm) and until Fri 10.3.17 (Sabbath onset)

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The Haifa underground – The Carmelit – is closed after extensive fire damage

Carmelit Closed Due to Fire Damage

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Haifa underground ‘The Carmelit’ closed due to fire damage

The Haifa underground subway system – The Carmelit, is temporarily closed.  The closure is expected to last anywhere between 6 – 12 months.

A fire which broke out on Saturday, February 4th, 2017 caused extensive damage to both coaches.

At this point there is no clear cause of the fire but authorities said that the fire was most likely caused by a technical or electrical malfunction. The cause is still under investigation.

The damage from the fire is estimated to cost tens of millions of shekels to repair.

Now that the Carmelit is integrated with the Haifa Metropolin and Rav Kav transport system and the transport tariff reform, it is a very practical, fast and economical way of getting from the Central Carmel to Haifa’s downtown area.

It was reported that since the Carmelit was incorporated into the Rav Kav transport system, the number of passengers using the Carmelit increased by around 50 per cent.

Update:12 March 2017

For regular Carmelit passengers who are anxiously waiting for repairs to be complete, the latest update is that although Haifa Municipality has started the refurbishing process, they are still waiting for a quote for the major repairs from an Italian company.  A quote has been received from a Swiss company.

Two new bank notes to be released by the Bank of Israel

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Two new bank notes to be released by the Bank of Israel

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The Bank of Israel releases 2 new bank notes

100 shekels
Image credit: Ynet News Business

Later this year, 2017, the Bank of Israel will be releasing 2 new bank notes – a new 20 shekel note and a new 100 shekel note.

The new red 20 shekel note (replacing the current green one) will feature the poet Rachel Bluwstein.

Who was Rachel Bluwstein?

At the age of 19, Rachel visited Palestine where she planned to study art and philosophy. She stayed on as Zionist pioneer, learning Hebrew by listening to children’s chatter in kindergartens. She settled in Rehovot and worked in the orchards. Later, Rachel moved to Kvutzat Kinneret on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where she studied and worked in a women’s agricultural school. At Kinneret, she met Zionist leader A. D. Gordon who was to be a great influence on her life, and to whom she dedicated her first Hebrew poem. During this time, she also met and had a romantic relationship with Zalman Rubashov—the object of many of her love poems who later became known as Zalman Shazar and was the third President of Israel.  Rachel died on April 16, 1931 in Tel Aviv, at the age of 40. She is buried in the Kinneret cemetery in a grave overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Naomi Shemer (Yerushalayim Shel Zahav) is also buried here.

The new orange 100 shekel note  will feature the well known Israeli author and poet  Leah Goldberg.  Goldberg wrote Hebrew poetry, drama, and children’s literature. Goldberg’s books for children, among them “A Flat for Rent” (“דירה להשכיר”, dira lehaskir) and “Miracles and Wonders” (ניסים ונפלאות, nisim u’niflaot), have become classics of Hebrew-language children’s literature. Goldberg received in 1949 the Ruppin Prize (for the volume “Al Haprikhá”) and, in 1970, the Israel Prize for literature. 

The two new bills will be composed of a special material and contain complex watermarks consisting of the characters on the bill and the value of the bill, along with a security line and color-changing icon. The bill will also feature Braille for the visually impaired as well as other tiny holes and transparent sections.

Financial Tips for Israel’s Self-Employed

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Financial Tips for Israel’s Self-Employed

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Financial Tips for the Self-Employed

By: Moshe Zimmerman, CPA

 piles of cash

For new Olim in Israel, being self-employed (Heb: Atzma’i) is sometimes a solution to the problem and hardship of getting a job in a Hebrew speaking environment. However, this decision can be daunting; without regular expert advice from a lawyer, accountant and a tax/financial advisor, in the language you understand it can be difficult to navigate the system, the tax laws and other regulations.

Should you make the decision to become self-employed, in addition to all the other challenges, it means having to forfeit many of the employment benefits you would normally have as a salaried employee (Heb: Sachir).  As a self-employed, independent, business owner, in Israel, you are fully responsible for your Bituach Leumi (National Insurance) contribution; there are no paid sick-days, annual vacation and a host of other benefits.

Moshe Zimmerman, CPA and tax consultant, has been advising small business owners and independent workers on how to manage their finances and save on taxes for more than 25 years.

Today, Zimmerman shares a pension tip with you:

On January 1st, 2017 a new law came into effect;- every self-employed, independent working person is required to deposit funds into a pension plan.  According to the new law, every self-employed person must have his own pension fund (Heb: keren pensia) and he/she must deposit, up to a maximum of 805 NIS per month, in the fund.

About one third of the fund will be allocated to unemployment benefits (which until now, did not exist for self-employed persons) and in the case of ceasing to operate as a self-employed person and closing the business (closing your “tik”) a self-employed person can now withdraw those funds as an unemployment benefit that is free of tax.

There are some restrictions:

  1. This law is not relevant during the first six months of self-employment
  2. There is also an age restriction – if you are under the age of 21 or more than age 55, this new law is not valid.
  3. This new pension law is also not relevant for people who are in early retirement

Employment Resources for salaried employees and independent workers

Highway 1- Latrun to Jerusalem Closed.

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Highway 1: Latrun to Jerusalem Closed

On Thursday 19th January, 2017 – at 10:00 p.m. a section of Highway 1 between Latrun and Jerusalem – near the Harel Interchange at Mevaseret Zion – will be closed for 12 hours to finalize work on two 800-meter tunnels.

On the positive side, this short 12 hour inconvenience will mean that your journey time from Tel Aviv —> Jerusalem will be reduced by 10 minutes.  This trip is now expected to take 35 minutes instead of 45.

Traffic police will be on hand to ensure a smooth flow of traffic and redirect motorists as necessary.

For more information call 110 – the police information center.

This section of road will re-open on Friday 20th, 2017 at 10:00 a.m.

 

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