They don’t make as many problems now as they used to. You used to have to renew student visas yearly, now they do every 2 or 3 years and you pay much less than it used to be, more of a family price than a set price for each individual.
You do have to be aware that if either spouse has even one parent who ever held Israeli citizenship at one time that is enough to prevent you from being able to do what you want, because that Israeli citizenship was conferred onto the spouse at his/her birth no matter where in the world the child was born. You only need one Israeli parent to be “entitled to” Israeli citizenship and since it wasn’t refused in the time immediately following the birth, then they are automatically Israeli and this automatically passes down to their children in the same manner.
Now as far as “benefits” you receive, yes, there is some help with rent, bringing in the lift, and things that another poster mentioned above. There aren’t too many other things that you don’t get without citizenship. The permanent resident business has all of the issues of army service as regular citizenship, so that may not help you if that’s what you are concerned about.
As far as something like health coverage, there is a law here that a person who is in this country continuously for 1 year without going out is entitled to apply to Bituach Leumi for coverage. This is called a “toshav” and entitles a person to Kupat Cholim health coverage.