Development Co‑operation Profiles

Israel

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Introduction

Israel launched its official international development co-operation programme in 1958 to share the expertise and technologies driving its own rapid development with other developing countries. Development co-operation is led and implemented by the Agency for International Development Cooperation (MASHAV), a division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Most of Israel’s aid is allocated through government channels to capacity building and humanitarian assistance worldwide. Israel’s total official development assistance (ODA) (USD 376.7 million, preliminary data) decreased in 2023, representing 0.07% of gross national income (GNI).1

Find the methodological notes behind the profile here.

Policy

Israel’s development policy is closely linked to and strongly aligned with its foreign policy, including its commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In its development co-operation programming, Israel prioritises capacity building and tailor-made programmes, focusing on priority sectors where it considers its expertise can add the greatest value – such as agriculture, water, health, innovation, education and promoting gender equality, in developing countries around the world.

Israel’s development co-operation is delivered mainly through bilateral channels through the work and engagement of MASHAV, emphasising capacity building and investing significantly in creative solutions responding to the challenges presented by climate change. The agency’s programmes are based on technical assistance and the transfer of accumulated Israeli know-how, technologies and expertise through consultancies, capacity building and training activities, both in Israel and in partner countries. Israel also has years of experience in triangular development co-operation in a variety of sectors.

ODA allocation overview

Israel provided USD 376.7 million (preliminary data) of ODA in 2023 (USD 398.9 million in constant terms), representing 0.07% of GNI. This was a decrease of 19.2% in real terms in volume and a decrease in the share of GNI from 2022. Israel is not in line with its international commitment to achieve a 0.7% ODA/GNI ratio. Total ODA on a grant-equivalent basis has the same value as net ODA under the cash-flow methodology used in the past, as Israel provides only grants.2

 

Note: Data on ODA volumes (figure above) are in constant 2022 prices. Data for 2023 are preliminary. See the methodological notes for further details.

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Performance against commitments and DAC recommendations.

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Description	Target	2021	2022	2023, preliminary
ODA as a share of GNI (%)		0.09	0.09	0.07
Total ODA to least developed countries as a share of GNI (%)	0.15-0.20	0.01	0.00
Grant element of total ODA (%)	>86	100	100	100

Note: This table only includes information about ODA data-related DAC recommendations. ODA: official development assistance; GNI: gross national income; DAC: Development Assistance Committee.

Israel provided the majority of its ODA bilaterally in 2022. Gross bilateral ODA was 90.5% of total ODA disbursements. Israel allocated 9.5% of total ODA as core contributions to multilateral organisations.

 

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ODA for Ukraine

In 2023, Israel provided USD 10.9 million of net bilateral ODA to Ukraine to respond to the impacts of Russia’s war of aggression, a 68.3% decrease from 2022 in real terms. USD 3.6 million of the amount was humanitarian assistance in 2023, an 87.8% decrease from 2022.

 

Note: The amount reported in 2023 is an estimate, based on preliminary figures reported to the OECD and published in April 2024.

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ODA to and through the multilateral system

In 2022, Israel provided USD 47 million of gross ODA to the multilateral system, a fall of 48.2% in real terms from 2021.

 

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Nearly ninety-two per cent of Israel’s contributions to multilateral organisations in 2022 were allocated to UN entities, the World Bank and regional development banks, notably Inter-American Development Bank Group and European bank for Reconstruction and Development.

 

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The UN system received 39.2% of Israel’s multilateral contributions. Out of a total volume of USD 18.4 million to the UN system, the top UN recipients of Israel’s support were UNDPO (USD 6.5 million), UN Secretariat (USD 4 million), FAO (USD 3.9 million) and ILO (USD 1.4 million).

Bilateral ODA

In 2022, Israel’s bilateral spending increased considerably compared to the previous year. It provided USD 446.7 million of gross bilateral ODA. This represented an increase of 39.0% in real terms from 2021. In-donor refugee costs were USD 195.8 million in 2022 and represented 43.8% of Israel’s total gross ODA. In 2022, country programmable aid was 41.3% of Israel’s gross bilateral ODA, compared to a non-DAC country average of 47%.

 

Note: NGO: non-governmental organisation.

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In 2022, Israel channelled their bilateral ODA mainly through the public sector (81.2%), alongside 12.9% through universities, research institutes or think tanks and 5.8% through NGOs.

 

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Geographic, sectoral and thematic focus of ODA

In 2022, Israel’s bilateral ODA was primarily focused on countries in the Middle East, South and East Asia and Europe. USD 109 million was allocated to the Middle East, and USD 45.6 million to South and East Asia, accounting for 24.4% and 10.2% of gross bilateral ODA respectively. ODA-eligible countries in Europe received USD 45.6 million, 79.5% of which was allocated to Ukraine. Africa received USD 6.7 million in 2022.

Bilateral ODA by recipient country

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In 2022, 45.7% of gross bilateral ODA went to Israel’s top 10 recipients. Its top 10 recipients are in the Middle East, Europe, South and East Asia and Latin America. The share of gross bilateral ODA not allocated by country was 51.1%, of which 85.8% consisted of expenditures for processing and hosting refugees in provider countries.

 

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In 2022, Israel allocated 26.9% of its gross bilateral ODA to lower middle income countries (LMICs), noting that 51.1% was unallocated by income group. Additionally, Israel allocated 1.7% of gross bilateral ODA to land-locked developing countries (LLDCs) in 2022, equal to USD 7.7 million. Israel allocated 0.1% of gross bilateral ODA to small island developing states (SIDS) in 2022, equal to USD 337 thousand.

 

Note: LDC: least developed country; LIC: low-income country; LMIC: lower middle-income country; UMIC: upper middle-income country; MADCTs: more advanced developing countries and territories.

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Fragile contexts

Support to fragile contexts reached USD 53.1 million in 2022, representing 11.9% of Israel’s gross bilateral ODA.

Learn more about support to fragile contexts on the States of Fragility platform.

 

Note: HDP: humanitarian-development-peace. The chart represents only gross bilateral official development assistance that is allocated by country.

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Total official support for sustainable development

Total official support for sustainable development is an international statistical standard that monitors all official and officially supported resources for financing the SDGs in developing countries, as well as for addressing global challenges. It provides a broader measure of development finance with the objective of increasing transparency and accountability of all external support that developing countries receive.

In 2022, activities reported by Israel as TOSSD totalled USD 493.7 million, and Israel’s TOSSD activities in support of sustainable development mostly targeted SDG 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages and SDG 6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Activity-level data on TOSSD by recipient are available at: https://tossd.online.

Institutional set-up

MASHAV, a division within the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, plans, implements and co-ordinates Israel’s development co-operation.

However, following Cabinet Resolution No. 4021 in 2018 on “Advancing Israeli Activity in the Field of International Development”, Israel has created an inter-ministerial committee dedicated to international development, defining a new multi-stakeholder architecture approach, including by considering the creation of a development finance institution.

 

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Additional resources

Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation (MASHAV): https://mashav.mfa.gov.il.

MASHAV Annual Activity Report (2022): https://mashav.mfa.gov.il/sites/default/files/2023-08/MASHAV%20Activity%20Report%202022.pdf.

Cabinet Resolution No. 4021 (23 July 2018): https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2022/oda21_1881/israel-resolution-no-4021.pdf.

Israel became a member of the OECD in 2010 but is not a member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Israel participated as an Observer in the DAC peer review of Finland in 2017.

Israel has been reporting to the OECD since 1997 at aggregate level and reporting at activity level since 2023 on 2022 activities.

Israel is an Adherent to the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Environmental Assessment of Development Assistance Projects and Programmes; the OECD Recommendation of the Council for Development Co-operation Actors on Managing the Risk of Corruption; the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas; the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development; the OECD Declaration on Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Co-operation; and the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable aid, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.

Notes

← 1.  DAC members adopted the grant-equivalent methodology starting from their reporting of 2018 data as a more accurate way to count the donor effort in development loans. See the methodological notes for further details.

← 2.  Non-grants include sovereign loans, multilateral loans, equity investment and loans to the private sector.