Your first week in RBS: what to do, in what order

The first week after landing in Ramat Beit Shemesh is mostly offices and queues. It goes faster if you do things in the right order and know where each office is. Everything below comes from Nefesh B'Nefesh, the municipality and the bus operator, and each point links to where I checked it.

The order NBN recommends

Nefesh B'Nefesh lists the first steps after aliyah in this order: get your biometric Teudat Zehut, open a bank account, visit Misrad HaAliyah VeHaKlita, finalise your kupat cholim, sort out the child allowance and register the children for school (NBN, first steps (opens in a new tab)).

A few details that save a second trip:

• With a Teudat Oleh you can usually open a bank account within 30 days of arrival, even before you have a Teudat Zehut (NBN (opens in a new tab)).
• A married couple must open a joint account to receive the sal klita, and both spouses have to be there (NBN (opens in a new tab)).

Misrad HaAliyah VeHaKlita (Ministry of Aliyah and Integration)

The branch that serves Beit Shemesh is at 9 Herzl St in old Beit Shemesh. You see your personal advisor by appointment; the branch phone is 073-397-2450 and the national line is *2994 (NBN office list (opens in a new tab); NBN first steps (opens in a new tab)). See the listing.

The city's own absorption department

Beit Shemesh has a municipal Aliyah and Absorption Department. NBN lists three municipal klita coordinators for the city, one of them a project manager for English-speaking olim, and the department takes questions through an online form on the city website (NBN klita coordinators (opens in a new tab); municipality (opens in a new tab)). It also posts olim notices on its Facebook page, facebook.com/betshemeshaliyah (NBN (opens in a new tab)). See the listing.

For anything municipal (rubbish, water leaks, street lights), the city's 24/7 hotline is 106 (10622 from a mobile) or 02-990-9999 (municipality (opens in a new tab)).

Claim the arnona discount early

New olim get a 90% discount on arnona for 12 months, on up to 100 sq m, as long as you claim it within two years of aliyah (NBN arnona (opens in a new tab)).

In Beit Shemesh the discount is only applied once you have a direct debit (horaat keva) or have paid the year in full. In-person applications go to the Collection Department (Agaf HaGviya) at Kanyon Naimi, floor 2, by appointment: Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 8:15-13:00, plus Monday 15:30-17:00. It is closed on Tuesdays (ShemeshPhone, Apr 2026 (opens in a new tab)).

Get a personal Rav-Kav

A personal Rav-Kav gets you the right fares and discounts. Beit Shemesh Express has four service points where you can get one (Nateev Express (opens in a new tab)):

• RBS A: Kishon corner Nachal Tzeelim 2
• RBS B: Lev HaRama, Nahar HaYarden 1
• RBS C (Gimmel): Rimonim centre, Devorah HaNeviah 1
• Old Beit Shemesh: Yitzhak Rabin 17

All four are open Sunday to Thursday 08:00-21:00 and Friday 08:00-13:00.

Water, electricity and emergencies

Water in Beit Shemesh is supplied by Mei Shemesh (m-sms.co.il) and electricity by the Israel Electric Corporation (community information page (opens in a new tab)).

Save these numbers on day one (municipality emergency page (opens in a new tab)):

• Police 100, MDA 101, Fire 102, Home Front Command 104
• Beit Shemesh municipal emergency centre: 02-990-9707
• Hatzalah Beit Shemesh: 02-999-9992 (community information page (opens in a new tab))

Plug into the English-speaking community

Most English-language news, recommendations and giveaways in RBS travel by email list and WhatsApp. Two lists are worth joining in week one: ShemeshList, the citywide English email list (groups.io (opens in a new tab)), and the RBS1 list (groups.io (opens in a new tab)). The M3 neighbourhood site keeps a directory of public WhatsApp groups, from city announcements to ride sharing and buy/sell/swap (m3rbs.com (opens in a new tab)).