Business & Investment Q&A

No. The 2019 Hague Judgments Convention entered into force for the United Kingdom on 1 July 2025, but Israel signed it on 3 March 2021 and has not ratified it, so it creates no route between the two countries. An English money judgment is still enforced under the Foreign Judgments Enforcement Law 5718-1958, helped by the 1970 UK-Israel convention on reciprocal enforcement, through an application to an Israeli District Court made within five years of the judgment under Section 5.

Not because of the reserve duty, and not during it without a permit. Section 41A of the Discharged Soldiers (Reinstatement to Work) Law 5709-1949 voids a dismissal caused by reserve service and bars dismissal during service, and for 30 days after service of more than two consecutive days, unless the Employment Committee at the Ministry of Defence approves it. The employer carries the burden of proof, and arrangements made permanent in 2026 extend the protected window to 60 days for employees who serve 60 days or more in a year.

You cannot dismiss them for it. Section 2 of the Protection of Employees in Emergency Law 5766-2006 bars dismissing an employee who is absent because Home Front Command instructions kept them away during a declared special situation on the home front, and it protects a parent staying home with a child under 14 when schools are closed, subject to conditions. The Law does not itself require wages for those days, and a dismissal in breach is a criminal offence that the Labour Court can compensate without proof of loss.

Very possibly. Regulation 35 of the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities (Accessibility Adjustments for Service) Regulations 5773-2013 requires a website or app that serves the public in Israel to meet Israeli Standard 5568 at WCAG level AA, and the Israel Internet Association reads the duty as turning on the Israeli public being served rather than on where the company sits. Sites launched after October 2017 are covered above NIS 100,000 of average annual turnover, and after a written demand and 60 days to fix the problem a claim can seek up to NIS 50,000 without proof of damage.

Apply to the Israeli court to stay the proceedings, and do it before you argue anything on the merits. Section 5 of the Arbitration Law 5728-1968 tells the court to stay a claim covered by an arbitration agreement if you were and remain ready to arbitrate, unless there is a special reason not to, and Section 6 applies that approach to agreements under the New York Convention. The application must come no later than your first statement on the substance, and the defence is due 60 days after service under Regulation 9(b) of the Civil Procedure Regulations 5779-2018.

Yes, within limits set by Sections 258 to 263 of the Companies Law 5759-1999 and only if the company's articles allow it. The company can exempt you in advance from liability for breach of the duty of care, give an advance indemnity limited to events the board considers foreseeable and to amounts it considers reasonable, and buy D&O insurance. Section 263 bars cover for a breach of loyalty not in good faith, an intentional or reckless breach of the duty of care, unlawful personal profit, and fines or monetary penalties.

Yes. Section 291A of the Penal Law 5737-1977, added in 2008, makes it an offence to bribe a foreign public official to obtain or advance business, and it carries the Section 291 penalty of up to seven years' imprisonment or a fine of up to NIS 1,130,000 or four times the benefit. Section 15 extends Israeli jurisdiction to felonies committed abroad by Israeli citizens and residents, and an Israeli company was convicted over a bribe in Lesotho in 2016. An indictment needs the Attorney General's written consent, and the same payment can expose the US parent under the FCPA.

You have days, not weeks. Section 200A of the Customs Ordinance lets Israeli customs detain goods that on their face infringe a registered trade mark and notify the proprietor, who must then deposit a guarantee fixed by customs within three days of that notice and file suit against the importer within ten days. Section 200A(c) makes the guarantee cover the costs of the seizure and any damage caused by it. Miss either deadline and customs releases the goods to the importer.

Yes. Section 9 of the Insolvency and Economic Rehabilitation Law 5778-2018 lets a creditor apply to the District Court for an order to open proceedings against an insolvent company, and a foreign creditor has the same standing as an Israeli one. You do not have to prove the balance sheet. A written demand for a debt exceeding roughly NIS 88,461 that goes unpaid for 30 days raises a presumption of insolvency, and so does an unsatisfied judgment. It is a pressure tool as much as a recovery tool, because in a liquidation an unsecured creditor is usually last in the queue.

Potentially far more than the salary. Wages are due by the ninth day of the following month, and anything unpaid after that becomes delayed wages under the Wage Protection Law 5718-1958. Section 17 then charges delayed-wage compensation of 5% of the withheld amount for the first week and 10% for each week or part of a week after that, or index linkage plus 20%, whichever is higher. Three weeks late on a NIS 30,000 salary is roughly NIS 7,500 in penalty. The Regional Labour Court has discretion to reduce it, and often does.

Only if the group is large. The Law for the Encouragement and Incentivisation of Research and Development received final Knesset approval on 13 April 2026 and applies to qualifying R&D expenses in tax years beginning on or after 1 January 2026. A special R&D enterprise, or an industrial plant in Development Area A, gets a credit of 25% of qualifying R&D spend up to NIS 1.05 billion and 30% above it; an ordinary R&D enterprise gets 3% and 4%. Eligibility runs through a group test that includes worldwide revenue of at least NIS 100 million.

Because paper filing was abolished. Since 27 June 2024, under Amendment 35 to the Companies Law 5759-1999, every report to the Registrar of Companies must be submitted through the Corporations Authority's online portal, and the offices no longer accept manual submissions. Only an authorised reporting officer can file, and that person must be registered in Israel's national digital identity system or hold a smart card issued to Israeli lawyers. A director with no Israeli ID number cannot obtain either, which is why almost every foreign-owned company now files through an Israeli lawyer.