I don't speak Hebrew. Will an Israeli court provide an interpreter for my civil case, and who pays?

The starting point is the language of the court, not the language of the litigant. Hebrew and Arabic are the official languages of Israeli courts under Section 82 of the Palestine Order-in-Council 1922, and English lost that status when the State was founded. A party to a civil proceeding who needs an interpreter may apply for one, but the Courts Administration is not obliged to fund interpretation into a non-official language and does so only in exceptional cases, where the applicant demonstrates both an inability to pay and the absence of any other way to conduct a fair and efficient hearing.

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Detailed Answer

The distinction that surprises foreign litigants most is between civil and criminal proceedings. Section 140 of the Criminal Procedure Law [Consolidated Version] 5742-1982 requires the court, where it finds that the accused does not know Hebrew, to appoint an interpreter or to interpret itself, and that is a right rather than a discretion. Civil proceedings have no equivalent provision. The framework there rests on a Courts Administration directive rather than statute, and it has been applied restrictively since the early 2000s, with the courts distinguishing sharply between Arabic, which carries official status and which the Courts Administration has been ordered in individual cases to fund, and other languages, where the party bears the cost. English gets no special treatment for this purpose despite being the working language of much of Israeli commerce. The application itself is made on the Judicial Authority's interpreter request form, filed online through the national identification system or in hard copy at any court in the district, and it should say which language, which hearing, and why the party cannot participate without help.

For a non-resident the useful insight is that the interpreter question usually matters less than it appears, because Israeli civil litigation is overwhelmingly written. Pleadings, affidavits and expert opinions are filed in Hebrew, and what your Israeli lawyer prepares in Hebrew from your English instructions is the material the judge actually decides on. The interpreter becomes necessary at one specific point: when you give evidence and are cross-examined. Three practical habits keep the cost down and the record clean. Book the interpreter yourself through the court rather than bringing a bilingual relative, because a family member's rendering of your evidence is exactly the kind of thing opposing counsel attacks. Ask for the interpreter at the pre-trial stage rather than on the morning of the hearing, since a hearing adjourned for want of interpretation can attract a costs order. And consider whether you need to be in the room at all: Israeli courts routinely permit evidence by video link from abroad, which is discussed in our answer on giving evidence to an Israeli court by video from abroad. The separate question of documents, where an informal translation is never enough and a notarial certificate is required, is covered in our answer on certified translation of foreign documents for Israeli courts.

In Practice: Hebrew and Arabic are the official court languages under Section 82 of the Palestine Order-in-Council 1922, and the Courts Administration (Hanhalat Batei HaMishpat) funds interpretation into other languages in civil matters only exceptionally, on proof of inability to pay and the absence of an alternative. Section 140 of the Criminal Procedure Law [Consolidated Version] 5742-1982 imposes the opposite rule on the criminal side, requiring the court to appoint an interpreter for an accused who does not know Hebrew. Privately engaged court interpreters in Israel commonly charge NIS 400 to NIS 900 an hour with a half-day minimum, so a day of cross-examination typically costs NIS 2,500 to NIS 5,000. File the request with the court at least 14 days before the hearing, and expect the Magistrates' Court or District Court to rule on it within 1 to 3 weeks.

When to Consult a Lawyer

• You have been summoned to give evidence in person and no interpreter has been arranged, where turning up and struggling in Hebrew can damage your credibility in a way the transcript preserves permanently.
• The other side is challenging the accuracy of an interpretation already given, which can put a whole day of evidence back in issue.
• You are a defendant in an Israeli criminal or regulatory proceeding, where the interpreter right is statutory and a failure to provide one is a ground of appeal rather than an inconvenience.

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Speak With an Israeli Attorney

An Israeli attorney can file the interpreter application in good time, decide whether video evidence from your own country is the better answer, and make sure the Hebrew record reflects what you actually said.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.