We are appealing an Israeli judgment. Can the other side sell our apartment before the appeal is heard?

The assumption that filing an appeal freezes everything is imported from other legal systems and it is wrong in Israel. Regulation 145(a) of the Civil Procedure Regulations 5779-2018 says that lodging an appeal does not suspend execution of the decision appealed against. While the appeal sits in a queue at the District Court, the winning party can open an Execution Office file, register a charge over your apartment and start the process of selling it. Stopping that is a separate application with its own rules, and for an owner abroad it needs to be made within days of the judgment rather than weeks.

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Detailed Answer

The regulation splits the jurisdiction by timing. Under Regulation 145(b), before an appeal has been filed, the court that gave the judgment may order a stay and grant temporary relief. Once the appeal is on foot, Regulation 145(c) hands that power to the appellate court, which may stay execution and grant temporary relief as it sees fit. Regulation 145(d) applies the security provisions to the application, which is the part that costs money: courts rarely grant a stay for nothing, and the usual condition is a bank guarantee or a cash deposit covering the judgment sum plus interest and costs, so that the winner is not left chasing an asset that has moved abroad in the meantime. Israeli judges weigh two things. The first is the prospects of the appeal, assessed on a preliminary view rather than argued in full. The second, and generally the decisive one, is whether the situation can be reversed if the appeal succeeds. Money paid over can usually be recovered from a solvent opponent, so stays of money judgments are refused more often than granted. The sale of a specific apartment cannot be undone once a third party buys it in good faith, and that is the strongest argument a property owner has.

Being outside Israel cuts both ways in this application, and the honest advice is to name the problem before the other side does. The court will ask whether a costs order or a repayment obligation against you could be collected where you live, and an appellant with no Israeli assets other than the property under threat looks like a flight risk on paper. The answer is to offer security that is real: a charge over the property itself, a deposit into the court, or a bank guarantee from an Israeli branch. Our answer on what an Israeli creditor can attach when you live abroad sets out what is exposed while the stay application is pending, which is a useful thing to know before you decide how much security to offer.

In Practice: Regulation 145(a) of the Civil Procedure Regulations 5779-2018 provides that an appeal does not stay execution, 145(b) gives the trial court the power to stay before the appeal is filed and 145(c) gives it to the appellate court afterwards. The appeal itself must be filed within 60 days of service of the judgment under Regulation 137(a). A stay application is normally decided by the District Court within two to six weeks, and security is commonly set at the judgment sum plus roughly 20% to 30% for interest and costs, deposited with the court or provided as an Israeli bank guarantee. Opening an Execution Office file costs the creditor about NIS 1,141, which is why nothing about your appeal will slow them down.

When to Consult a Lawyer

• The judgment orders the sale or transfer of a specific Israeli property, because that is the category where a stay is genuinely obtainable and where losing the application is irreversible.
• You have been served but are unsure when the 60 days started running, since service on a party abroad has its own rules and an appeal filed a day late needs an extension application that may not be granted.
• The other side has already registered a charge at the Land Registry, which changes the application from stopping enforcement to unwinding a step already taken.

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Speak With an Israeli Attorney

We file stay of execution applications for owners abroad, negotiate the form and amount of security so the guarantee does not cost more than the appeal, and deal with the Execution Office file in parallel.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.