Who is having a hard time here? Fuel became more expensive and then cheaper, recovery pay was upgraded, and there is also a work grant

"The Economic Summit": ynet Economics brings you every week the most viewed articles of the week, those that made the most headlines and sparked discourse, and alongside them our personal recommendation – one article that flew under the radar and in our opinion deserves special attention.

In the next salary, you will receive more money – this is the reason: the recovery day rate in the private sector is rising from 418 shekels to 451.50 shekels, following the rise in the Consumer Price Index. Minister of Labor Yoav Kisch signed the extension order for the collective agreement between the business sector and the Histadrut, and the difference is supposed to enter already with the next salary, or at the latest with the salary after that. Employees who have already received the recovery pay this year are also entitled to a retroactive supplement, and the maximum addition will reach 335 shekels for those entitled to 10 recovery days.

Meanwhile, this week we reported here that about 130 thousand Israelis will receive the second installment of the work grant for 2025, in a total amount of more than 260 million shekels. The Tax Authority advanced the payment by more than a month so that those eligible could use the money ahead of the Tishrei holidays. The grant, also known as negative income tax, is intended for low-income employees and self-employed individuals who meet the conditions, and can reach thousands of shekels a year depending on income and family status.

The Shabbat test: which city is the freest in Israel?

Givatayim, Herzliya, Ramat HaSharon, and Tel Aviv-Yafo are the freest cities in Israel on Shabbat – this is according to the "Shabbat Test" of the Israel Hofshit movement, which checked 60 Jewish cities according to the availability of transport, commerce, restaurants, leisure activities, and pharmacies. The four cities received the full 6 points, while Ofakim, Beit Shemesh, Netivot, Safed, and Sderot received zero. In total, only 13 cities received a high score of 5-6 points, while 47 out of the 60 cities checked received medium or low scores.

Geographical gaps are prominent: in Gush Dan and the Sharon, the average score was 4.2, compared to only 1.5 in the Jerusalem area and the South. A clear connection was also found between public transport on weekends and broader urban activity: in cities that are members of the "Na'im Ba-Sof Shavua" and "Sababus" projects, the average score is significantly higher. In an especially vital field, the picture is grim: in 13 municipalities there is no pharmacy available on Shabbat and no duty is defined, and in some of them, residents are required to travel more than 20 minutes to obtain medicines.

Big Brother winner Gal Rubin sues ex Mody: "Commercial exploitation of her photos"

Big Brother winner and network influencer Gal Rubin filed a lawsuit for 306 thousand shekels against her former partner, Mahmoud "Mody" Tsapouri. According to her, Tsapouri continues to display photos and videos of her on his public Instagram page, despite an explicit written demand to remove them, and thereby, she claims, he is making commercial use of her image for the purpose of promoting his business. The lawsuit claims, among other things, that the publications include couple photos, photos in a swimsuit, and photos in which Rubin's children appear, and that they continue to generate traffic on his business page. In addition, Rubin claims defamation, following an interview in which Tsapouri presented her as someone who demanded a payment of 50 thousand shekels from him and threatened to smear him if he did not pay them. The lawsuit claims that the things are false, and that they unfairly attribute to her behavior with a criminal tinge.

The young women who left everything to sell jars of pickles are worth millions

Lia Marcus and Visman Bihitar, two graduates of the University of Southern California, managed to take a basic product and turn it into a huge hit among Generation Z. The two founded a company called Good Girl Snacks, whose leading product, pickles in vinegar, underwent a facelift and rebranding as Hot Girl Pickles – fairly standard pickles in colorful jars, with prominent names and a lot of presence on social networks. The big push came from a viral video by influencer Alix Earle, in which she is filmed struggling to open a jar from the company – and within hours the site was flooded with orders. The surprising success stems from the fact that the two identified well the connection between a niche product and the network culture of young people, and as evidence, the brand already has about 175 thousand followers on Instagram. The success also integrates into a broader trend, stemming at least in part from the cost of living, in which they focus on a simple product like a pickle or sardines and turn it into an accessory of identity and style.

The price of fuel jumped to an all-time high - and then became cheaper

At the beginning of the week, it was determined that the price of a liter of 95 octane would jump this month to 8.25 shekels, an all-time high. Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, who was not moved by previous price increases, remembered to demand, just before the elections, a reduction of half a shekel in the excise tax in order to lower the price of fuel. After consultations with the legal counsel, it was decided to grant his request, and the price will drop on Sunday to 7.75 shekels per liter. The price that the state treasury will absorb from the move - 155 million shekels per month.