New immigrants to Israel are picking health funds before they understand what they are buying into. That is one early finding from a discussion between two senior Clalit physicians, and it carries real consequences for how newcomers navigate their medical care. Dr. Benjamin Goldstein, family physician regional director for Clalit’s Jerusalem District, and Dr. Danna Ekmaty Azria, pediatrician and regional director for Clalit’s Central District, laid out the stakes.
The family doctor is not just a gatekeeper. According to Goldstein, patients return to that doctor after seeing a specialist to ensure tests, referrals, and follow-up care actually get handled inside the system.
Without that coordination, things slip. Israel’s healthcare runs on an integrated community-care model. Ekmaty Azria described it bluntly: a full clinic with secretaries, administrative staff, nurses, doctors, dietitians, nutritionists, social workers.
Not a standalone doctor in a private office. That structure is unfamiliar to many immigrants.
They arrive expecting something closer to what they left behind. The result is predictable. People choose a health fund — Clalit is the largest — without comparing clinic locations, hours, or language support.
They do not know what questions to ask. By the time they learn how the system actually works, they are already enrolled, and switching funds is not trivial. Goldstein said the family doctor is “your first line for care, your first line for everything basically.” That sounds simple.
It is not. The doctor coordinates between specialists, hospitals, and clinics.
That coordination is the point. Without a regular family doctor, a new immigrant can end up with disjointed care, duplicated tests, or no follow-up at all. The two physicians spoke as part of a broader discussion.
An earlier ynet Global feature had already raised concerns about how immigrants choose health coverage without full understanding. This conversation reinforced those worries with specific detail about what happens after that choice is made.
What to watch next is whether health funds start offering clearer pre-enrollment information — or whether the burden stays on immigrants to figure it out alone. Language support is one obvious gap. Clinic locations matter.
Accessibility matters. But the first step is knowing that those factors exist to compare at all. For now, the message from Clalit’s physicians is consistent.
Find a family doctor early. Use that doctor as the hub.
Do not treat specialist visits as standalone events. The system is built around integration, not independence. Immigrants who miss that point miss the whole design.
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