Retirees
Retiring to Haifa
Haifa's welfare department runs services for older residents, from social clubs and day centres to supportive communities and programmes for Holocaust survivors. Beit Ole has a "Golden Age" club for older olim, and the municipal libraries lend books in Russian, English, German and other languages.
Retirees
Start here
7 steps, in the order most people take them.
- 1
Municipal services for seniors
Social clubs, day centres, supportive communities and Holocaust-survivor programmes, plus a senior citizens' guide.
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Read the senior citizens' guide
The municipal guide covers rights, health, nursing care, community services and digital information.
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Holocaust survivors
The municipal guide has a section for survivors; the Holocaust Survivors' Rights Authority has a Haifa branch at 7 Palyam Blvd.
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Beit Ole's Golden Age club and library
The absorption authority runs a seniors' club and a library for olim at 20 Y.L. Peretz St in Hadar.
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Join the library for free
Haifa's 18-branch library network is free to join; the central Pevzner library holds books in Hebrew, English, Russian, German, French and Yiddish.
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Pensions for olim
Beit Ole published a guide to retiring in Israel for new olim in June 2026.
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Getting around
Beit Ole says pensioners get Rav-Kav discounts. The Carmelit has stairs and slopes and no wheelchair access (it holds an exemption from accessibility rules).
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Guides
Read next
- Health funds, doctors and hospitals in HaifaHaifa's hospitals and after-hours clinics, which urgent care each health fund uses, Russian- and English-speaking doctors, and Rambam's free interpreter service.
- Getting around Haifa: Carmelit, Metronit, cable cars and trainsHaifa's public transport goes up the mountain as well as across it: the underground Carmelit, the Metronit, two cable cars, six railway stations and some buses that run on Shabbat.
- Your first week in HaifaThe order I'd do things in during your first week in Haifa: Beit Ole, the Interior Ministry, the bank, the Ministry of Aliyah, your health fund and ulpan, with addresses, hours and the numbers to keep.
Good to know
The Louis Promenade and the Bat Galim promenade have benches and wide views, and Gan HaEm has a large lawn next to the upper Carmelit station.
Community groups
Where people talk
- Beit Ole (Haifa absorption authority) Telegram channelTelegram · Beit Ole - Haifa Association for Immigrants Absorption
- Chabad Haifa (Russian-speaking community) on FacebookFacebook · Chabad Haifa - Russian Jewish Community Center
- Haifa Municipality Telegram channelTelegram · Haifa Municipality
- Haifa Municipality on FacebookFacebook · Haifa Municipality
Source
- Haifa Municipality (opens in a new tab)
- Haifa Municipality (opens in a new tab)
- olimhaifa.co.il (opens in a new tab)
- Haifa Municipality (opens in a new tab)
- olimhaifa.co.il (opens in a new tab)
- carmelithaifa.co.il (opens in a new tab)
- olimhaifa.co.il (opens in a new tab)
This page was written for Haifa from the sources above.
