Tipping in Israel: 2026 Guide for Travelers

Restaurants and Cafés

At sit-down restaurants and cafés with table service, leave 10–15% of the bill. Twelve percent is a widely used baseline, and 15% is right for attentive service or a special meal. Many receipts carry a line in Hebrew and English noting that service is not included — that is your reminder, not a sign that a tip is optional.

Some restaurants add a service charge for large groups, and a few upscale places add one automatically. If you see a service line already on the bill, you don’t need to tip again. Our explainer on automatic gratuity covers how to spot these charges.

Tipping in cash is still the norm at many Israeli restaurants. If you want to tip on a card, tell your server the total you want charged — including the tip — before they run the card. Many places can do it, but it often can’t be added afterward.

Bars and Counter Service

At bars with table service, treat the tab like a restaurant bill and leave 10–15%. At the bar itself, ₪5–10 per round or rounding up the total is common. Counter-service coffee shops, falafel and shawarma stands, and bakeries don’t expect a tip, though a tip jar for spare coins is common.

Taxis and Transport

Israeli taxi drivers don’t expect a percentage tip. Rounding up to the nearest ₪5 or ₪10 is a polite gesture for a smooth ride or help with heavy bags. More important than the tip: insist on the meter (moneh) for rides within a city, or agree on the fare before you get in. Ride apps such as Gett and Yango let you add a tip in-app if you want to.

Shared minibuses (sherut) and public buses don’t involve tipping. A private driver for a full day of touring might get ₪100–200 at the end, depending on the length of the day and group size.

Hotels

• Porter or bellhop: ₪5–10 per bag.
• Housekeeping: ₪10–20 per night, left daily with a short note.
• Concierge: ₪20–50 for reservations or arrangements that took real effort.
• Room service: check whether a delivery or service fee is already on the check; if not, ₪10–20.

Many Israeli hotels serve a large breakfast buffet included in the room rate — no tip is expected there. See our hotel tipping guide for how these compare with US norms.

Tour Guides and Drivers

Guided tours are a big part of most trips to Israel — Jerusalem’s Old City, Masada and the Dead Sea, the Galilee. Guides are customarily tipped, and many tour itineraries mention it. A common range is around $5–10 per person per day for a group guide and a smaller amount for the bus driver, given in shekels or dollars at the end of the tour. For a private guide, 10–15% of the tour price is a reasonable benchmark.

Guides are the one place US dollars are often accepted as a tip, but shekels are always the safer choice. Our tour guide tipping guide has more on per-day amounts.