Volunteer Programs in Israel

Countrywide opportunities for volunteering in Israel cover all options from teaching in cities to working in remote countryside on a kibbutz. Volunteers can also promote peace in the disputed territories of the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights.

Environmental Conservation

There’s much you can do as a volunteer conservationist in Israel. Options range from helping to preserve coral reefs around the Red Sea to assisting wildlife authorities in the Arava Desert, or building sustainable cabins in the mountains. Short-term projects might see you working on a kibbutz grape harvest or caring for alpaca herds in remote countryside little changed since biblical times.

Immersion in Communities

Week-long immersive guided tours lead volunteers through Palestinian communities in Galilee and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. These permit volunteers from across the world to build relationships with Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line and to understand their culture, customs, and heritage.

You can also study the intricacies of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while living in Jerusalem or working at a West Bank community center.

Working with Children

If you enjoy working with kids, spend up to a year supporting inner-city refugee youngsters from Darfur, Eritrea, and Southeast Asia. Teach in a Tel Aviv school, entertain and educate with new games and sports, or provide medical care for homeless families living on the streets.

Volunteer Teaching

A lack of spoken English is a drawback for many Israelis seeking employment, so brush up on your people skills with a 10-month program teaching English in villages far away from the sophisticated cities. Your Hebrew will improve in leaps and bounds and you’ll gain satisfaction from helping rural people to increase their job prospects.

If Israel is on your mind, you have to choose: Would you rather experience the bohemian bars and beach scene of Tel Aviv or marvel at Jerusalem’s rich history? Do you want to spend your days off diving the coral reefs off the shores of Eilat, or hiking in the pine-covered hills around Safed?

Below you'll find some of the most loved cities among the Go Overseas community, as well as destinations that provide the biggest variety of programs for volunteering in Israel.

Eliat: coral reefs & festivals

Set on the Red Sea at the southern tip of Israel, go to Eilat if you love snorkeling, diving, kite surfing, and swimming in turquoise waters. A good-time city of 85,000, the heart of Eilat is the Tayelet promenade, which runs the length of North Beach and is home to market stalls, street artists, and some great restaurants.

Safed: mountains & mysticism

This city, located in the Galilee region of northern Israel, is known for its many art galleries, ateliers, cobbled alleyways and stone stairways of the old town, and for being the center of Kabbalah since the 16th century.

If you have some medical experience you can volunteer with Israel’s version of the Red Cross, Magen David Adom. There are also city soup kitchens, food banks, and care homes to help out at. The alternative “vegetarian village” of Amirim is also near Safed and offers various volunteering opportunities.

Jerusalem: history & holy sites

To enter Jerusalem's Old City is to visit a world where incense and rugs go for sale on every corner, vendors serve up fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice and sizzling falafels, and graffitied alleyways lead to ancient holy site upon ancient holy site. In other words, Jerusalem is a great place to explore (and volunteer!)

Tel Aviv: sun, surf, & startups

With all of its palm trees and the Mediterranean sea breezes, Tel Aviv feels closer to Barcelona, than it does Jerusalem. Home to nearly half a million people and a ton of great startups, you'll find major art galleries like the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and UNESCO-worthy Bauhaus buildings (like the Bauhaus Center). There are great bars and cafes, glinting glass skyscrapers, food markets, and of course, a 9-mile-long coastal strip of white sand and blue sea.

Haifa: gardens & maritime vibes

Home to the National Maritime Museum, the Hecht Museum, the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, and the French Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery, there’s lots to see and do in Israel’s third largest city.

Volunteer in Haifa and you’ll also have opportunities to visit nearby areas like Nazareth and Caesarea National Park. It’s also home to one of Israel’s largest archeological sites, and Jerusalem and Tel Aviv are only a day trip away!

Visa

US citizens can travel to Israel for up to three months without a visa, as long as their passports are valid for six months from the date of travel.

A B/4 Visa is needed for volunteers to enter Israel. Applications for this visa are submitted by your host program and you’ll need your visa before arriving in the country. The B/4 is valid for up to three months and if you wish to extend it, you (or your program) must submit an application at your local regional population administration office of the Ministry of the Interior.

There are stringent regulations for the issuing of a B/4 visa and the procedure takes 14 working days. You’ll need the following:

• Visa application form, completed and signed. You can download the form here.
• A passport valid for at least six months, with three double blank pages.
• A recent, clear, passport photo (5cm x 5cm) on a white background and high-quality paper.
• A return flight booking or ticket for your journey.
• Six months’ worth of bank statements; you’ll need to show that you can support yourself during your stay in Israel as people entering on a B/4 visa are not permitted to work for a salary.
• The visa application fee of US$23 and a service charge of US$27.
• The invitation letter from your host program.
• Travel and medical insurance to cover you for the duration of your stay in Israel.

At point of entry, Israel now provides tourists with Electronic Gate Passes with all their data and visa information recorded electronically on them so their passports are no longer stamped. These cards are your ID while in Israel, so keep them to hand at all times.

However, technical hitches sometimes occur. If the system is down when you enter Israel and you’re planning to travel on to Arab countries, ask customs officials not to stamp your passport. Jordan and Egypt are both exceptions to this rule.

Housing & Accommodation

When volunteering in Israel, your accommodation often comes as part of the package with your program. Alternatively, you may prefer to live with a local family for a full immersion in Israeli culture and a crash course in Hebrew.

You could find a private flat share or a studio apartment in one of Israel’s happening cities, but be warned -- accommodation can be expensive and really hard to find so allow a couple of months to find somewhere in your price range. Some people go through agents but you could also watch social media to track down a home.

If you’d rather live somewhere rural, there are hostels and kibbutzim collective farms catering for students and volunteers all over the country.