Global eye health is increasingly recognized as integral to achieving universal health coverage (UHC), with equity, access, and service integration serving as key indicators of system performance. Israel provides a distinctive case study, having established UHC through the 1994 National Health Insurance Law, which guarantees essential services to all residents. This review assesses Israel’s eye care system through a public and global health lens, applying the WHO health system building blocks to examine its organization, strengths, and persistent challenges. Israel benefits from strong integration of eye care within its universal framework, a high density of specialists, and wide availability of advanced services; yet inequities remain, particularly for lower-income and peripheral populations who face financial and geographic barriers to advanced treatment and consistent follow-up. Priority reforms include strengthening primary and community-based services, redistributing the workforce, and adopting nationally representative data and global indicators such as effective cataract surgical coverage (eCSC). Israel’s experience highlights both the potential and limits of universalism, offering lessons for countries seeking to integrate eye health into broader health planning as part of the global drive toward UHC.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13584-025-00731-2.
Keywords: Eye care; Eye health; Global eye health; Israel; Universal health coverage.