How to bid for government tenders in Israel

Israel at a glance


Core law	Mandatory Tenders Law 5752-1992 and the Mandatory Tenders Regulations 5753-1993
Who it covers	The State, government companies, health funds, higher-education institutions and religious councils; municipalities have their own tender rules
Ministry portal	mr.gov.il (Government Procurement Administration, Ministry of Finance), with bids through the Yahalom digital tender box
Small-purchase exemption	Up to NIS 50,000 per contract (ministries); expedited Yahalom procedure up to NIS 100,000
WTO GPA	Party since 1996; revised GPA in force for Israel since 6 April 2014
Buy-Israeli preference	15% for Israeli goods, not applied to GPA- or US-FTA-covered procurement
Offsets	Industrial cooperation required on contracts above about US$5 million
Language	Notices in Hebrew and Arabic (plus English for GPA tenders); documents usually Hebrew
Payment	Shotef + 30 for ministries; Shotef + 70 for construction
Challenges	Administrative petition within 45 days; no automatic suspension

Who buys, and where tenders appear

Ministries publish public tenders, central tenders and exemption notices on mr.gov.il, the website of the Government Procurement Administration in the Accountant General’s Department. The site runs in Hebrew, English and Arabic.
Central tenders. The Accountant General runs framework-style central tenders for all ministries. Once one exists for a subject, ministries must buy through it unless an exemption committee agrees otherwise.
Yahalom. Since 1 February 2024, new digital tender boxes open only in the new Yahalom system. Suppliers can update their bids before the deadline and upload up to 150 MB.
Government companies (such as utilities, ports and infrastructure companies) each have their own tender committee and publish on their own websites.
Local authorities tender under the Municipalities Ordinance and the Municipalities (Tenders) Regulations, not the Mandatory Tenders Regulations.
Defense. The Ministry of Defense buys under its own regulations.
No single platform. Germany’s trade agency, GTAI, says Israel has no central procurement platform covering every buyer, and many notices appear only in Hebrew. Watch mr.gov.il, plus the sites of the specific companies and cities you sell to.

Thresholds and tender types

The NIS 50,000 small-purchase limit is set in Regulations text dating from 2012, and a 2026 law-firm review still gives it. Amounts are adjusted through the Accountant General’s administrative directives (the Takam), so check the tender itself.

Rule	Value
Ministry small-purchase exemption	Up to NIS 50,000 per contract, and no more than NIS 100,000 to one supplier in 12 months
Expedited procedure (Yahalom only, from 2 January 2024)	Up to NIS 100,000
Government companies’ exemption	Up to NIS 200,000 (NIS 600,000 for companies with annual contracts over NIS 1 billion)
Planners and consultants	Public tender from NIS 3 million; pool selection below NIS 1.5 million
Foreign goods not available in Israel	May be bought without tender after a notice of intent of at least 10 working days; anyone can object
Framework tenders	Several suppliers, up to 5 years, with mini-competitions for each order

Tender types. The Regulations allow:

open public tenders;
restricted and closed tenders, using bidder lists with rotation;
tenders with a prequalification stage;
two-stage tenders, where price envelopes are opened only after quality scores are fixed;
tenders with a best-and-final round;
framework tenders;
automated, dynamic and expedited e-tenders.

Negotiation is allowed only if the tender documents provide for it.

GPA coverage. Israel’s central-government entities are covered for goods and services above SDR 130,000, as reported by the WTO. The construction threshold for central entities is SDR 5 million. The WTO resets the shekel equivalents every two years. Check the current NIS figures and Israel’s sub-central and other-entity coverage in the WTO e-GPA portal; we haven’t verified them.

Who can bid: foreign companies

Non-discrimination. Section 2(b) of the Law bars tender holders from discriminating by nationality or country of origin.
Treaties win. The Law and Regulations apply only so far as they don’t conflict with Israel’s international treaty commitments. That’s how the GPA and the US FTA switch off domestic preferences.
The United States. Under the 1985 US–Israel FTA, Israel waives “Buy National” restrictions for covered purchases of US$50,000 or more.
The EU. A 1997 EU–Israel procurement agreement extends coverage to urban transport entities and some services. Above SDR 550,000, it also requires municipalities outside Israel’s GPA list to treat EU suppliers no less favourably.
No statutory local-agent rule. We found no general legal duty to appoint an Israeli agent. The US Commerce Department strongly recommends one, and many international tenders expect local partners or subcontractors.

Bidding conditions in every tender:

registration in any statutory register the work requires (for example, a licence);
compliance with any official Israeli standard;
the approvals required under the Public Bodies Transactions Law: bookkeeping and tax certificates for Israeli residents, and affidavits on foreign-worker, minimum-wage and disability-employment compliance.

Limits on what buyers can demand. If a tender asks for more than these, the buyer must justify it in the documents:

one year of experience (and never more than five);
one project of equal size, or three of half the size;
turnover of twice the contract value.

The Buy-Israeli preference

The Preference for Israeli Products regulations apply where no treaty covers the purchase.

15% price preference. Israeli-made goods win if their price is no more than 15% above an imported bid. If a foreign supplier would otherwise win, the leading Israeli bidder is offered the contract at the foreign price. If it declines, up to two more Israeli bidders are asked.
What counts as Israeli. Goods made in Israel by an Israeli company or resident with at least 35% Israeli content, certified by an accountant.
Other rates. A 10% rate is reported for some government companies. A temporary order reportedly gives 20% to goods from the Gaza-envelope area until 1 September 2028.
Split awards. In divisible goods tenders above about NIS 30 million, the buyer may reportedly cut a foreign winner to half the volume and offer the rest to the cheapest Israeli bidder at the foreign price.
Not under the GPA. The WTO describes the preference as applying to all international tenders except GPA tenders.

Tie-breaks. Two tie-breaks favour Israeli-registered businesses only:

a women-controlled business wins a tie for the top score;
since November 2024, so does a small business controlled by an active military reservist.

Industrial cooperation (offsets)

Under the Mandatory Industrial Cooperation Regulations 2007, foreign suppliers winning large contracts must buy, invest or subcontract in Israel. The scheme is run by the Industrial Cooperation Authority (ICA).

Item	Rule
Trigger	Goods or works contracts above the NIS equivalent of US$5 million; continuation contracts above US$500,000
Base rate	At least 35% of contract value
Ministry of Defense equipment	At least 50%
GPA-country suppliers, covered civil procurement	Reported at about 18–20% (WTO 2018 said 20%; 2025–26 sources say 18%)
Local subcontracting	The ICA can require at least 20% within the commitment
End date	Offsets on GPA-covered procurement are due to be phased out by 2029

What counts. Local subcontracting, investment, R&D, know-how transfer and buying Israeli goods count. Agent commissions and sales costs don’t. The ICA can sign an umbrella agreement that nets together all of a supplier’s obligations.

Timing. The industrial-cooperation plan is a threshold condition submitted with the bid. The contract is signed only after the ICA approves, and approval is reportedly deemed given if the ICA doesn’t object within 21 days.

Sanction. A supplier that fails its obligations can reportedly be barred from public contracts for up to five years.

In April 2025, the Finance Ministry reportedly discussed exempting US companies from offsets. We couldn’t confirm any outcome.

Bidding, step by step

Find the tender. Search the Tenders, Central Tenders and Exemptions sections on mr.gov.il. Check government-company, municipal, health-fund and defense sites separately.
Subscribe. The Accountant General emails public-tender notices to subscribers. Also watch exemption notices: if a ministry plans to buy foreign goods without a tender, you have at least 14 working days to object.
Get the documents. They’re free where possible. They must state the terms, the draft contract, payment and guarantee terms, and the evaluation criteria and weights. Most are in Hebrew, so budget for translation.
Check eligibility and coverage. Check registers and licences, Israeli standards, Public Bodies Transactions Law affidavits and the experience thresholds. Then check whether the purchase is GPA- or FTA-covered: that decides whether the Buy-Israeli preference applies and which offset rate you face.
Ask questions early. Raise clarifications and objections to the tender terms in the clarification stage. Courts may refuse to hear a complaint about the terms after you’ve bid and lost.
Above US$5 million, prepare the industrial-cooperation plan and talk to the ICA before you bid.
Arrange the bid guarantee if the tender asks for one. It’s normally an autonomous, unconditional bank guarantee in the form the tender sets.
Submit before the deadline. Upload through the Yahalom digital tender box, or deliver a sealed envelope (two copies by default) to the physical tender box. Late bids are rejected.
Evaluation and award. Watch for a negotiation or best-and-final round. Every bidder is told the decision.
After award. Within 30 days you can inspect the committee’s minutes, professional opinions and the winning bid. Foreign winners then sign only after ICA approval of the offset commitment.

Guarantees and payment

Guarantees.

The tender committee may require a tender guarantee and must set its type, amount and duration in the documents.
The guarantee can be forfeited, after a hearing, for misleading information, unethical conduct, withdrawing a bid after the deadline, or a winner’s failure to meet pre-contract conditions.
Performance guarantees are set in each contract.
We haven’t verified standard percentages, or whether guarantees from foreign banks are accepted without an Israeli confirmation. Check each tender.

Payment. The Payment Terms to Suppliers Law 5777-2017 sets maximum terms. “Shotef + 30” means the end of the invoice month plus 30 days.

Buyer	Maximum term
Government ministries	Shotef + 30, or 45 days from invoice
State building and engineering works	Shotef + 70, or 85 days from invoice
Statutory bodies and publicly funded universities	Shotef + 45, unless a justified exception is stated in the tender
Local authorities	Shotef + 45; Shotef + 80 for engineering works

Late payment carries indexation and interest, with arrears interest after 30 days.

Tax. VAT is 18% from 1 January 2025.

How bids are evaluated

Criteria. The award goes to the bid “conferring maximum advantages”. Allowed criteria are price, quality and suitability, the bidder’s reliability and experience, references and past performance, special requirements, and conduct on employee rights.
Weights. The tender must publish the criteria, sub-criteria and the price/quality weighting. It may set a minimum quality score.
Default. Without multi-criteria evaluation, the lowest compliant bid wins. Deficient bids, or bids based on a misunderstanding, must be disqualified.
Planners and consultants. Scoring is fixed at 80% quality / 20% price. With five or more bids, prices more than 15% from the median are disqualified.
Abnormally low bids. There’s no statutory test, but courts have required a hearing where a bid is far below the estimate.
Smaller bidders. Since a 2016 amendment, buyers must consider whether small businesses could perform each contract and adapt the terms where they can. Buyers may not charge for tender documents for tenders under NIS 50 million, subject to Finance Ministry rules.

Challenging a decision

No specialist tribunal and no standstill. Israel has no procurement review body and no mandatory standstill period before contract signature.
Inspect the file first. Within 30 days of the award notice, ask to see the committee’s minutes, opinions and the winning bid. Trade secrets and privileged legal advice are excluded.
Administrative petition. File in the district court sitting as a Court for Administrative Matters, within 45 days of learning of the decision. Appeals go to the Supreme Court.
No automatic suspension. Filing doesn’t stop the contract. Ask for an interim order, showing an arguable case, irreparable harm and a balance of convenience in your favour.
Act early. Courts can reject petitions for delay even inside the 45 days. Losing bidders who didn’t object to the tender terms beforehand may be barred from doing so later.
Damages are hard to get. Lost profits generally require showing bad faith by the authority.

What changed in 2024–2026

January–February 2024: the expedited procedure up to NIS 100,000 started, and new digital tender boxes moved to Yahalom.
November 2024: Amendment No. 26 added the tie-break for small businesses controlled by active reservists.
1 January 2025: VAT rose from 17% to 18%.
April 2025: the Finance Ministry reportedly discussed exempting US suppliers from offsets amid US tariffs. We found no confirmed outcome.
July 2025: the Knesset extended the temporary order favouring Israeli textile makers for defense and public-security purchases, from 8 to 13 years.
2026: the WTO published new two-year GPA thresholds in national currencies. Industrial-cooperation guidance for 2026 reportedly keeps the GPA civil offset rate at 18%.
Coming: offsets on GPA-covered procurement are due to end in 2029, and the 20% Gaza-envelope preference is due to expire on 1 September 2028.

Live Israeli tenders

Questions

Can a foreign company bid for Israeli government tenders?

Yes. The Mandatory Tenders Law forbids buyers from discriminating between bidders by nationality or country of origin, and tender committees may send notices to foreign bidders. You don’t need an Israeli subsidiary by law. In practice, tender documents are usually in Hebrew and bids often require Israeli registrations, standards and affidavits, so many foreign bidders work with a local agent or partner.

Does the 15% ‘Buy Israeli’ preference apply to my bid?

Only outside treaty coverage. Israeli-made goods (at least 35% Israeli content) can win at up to 15% above an imported bid. But the preference doesn’t apply to procurement covered by the WTO Government Procurement Agreement or, for US suppliers, the US–Israel FTA from US$50,000, because Israeli law lets treaty commitments override the regulations.

Will I have to offer offsets (industrial cooperation)?

If you win a goods or works contract worth more than the shekel equivalent of US$5 million, yes. The base rate is 35% of contract value (50% for Ministry of Defense equipment). For suppliers from GPA countries in covered civil procurement, the rate is reported at about 18–20%, and those offsets are due to end in 2029. You file an industrial-cooperation plan with your bid.

What language are Israeli tenders in?

Notices on mr.gov.il are published in Hebrew and Arabic, with an English notice for GPA-covered tenders. Tender documents are usually in Hebrew. Some international tenders accept bids in English, but it depends on the documents, so check before you prepare a bid.

How quickly does the Israeli government pay suppliers?

Under the Payment Terms to Suppliers Law 2017, ministries pay at ‘Shotef + 30’ (end of the invoice month plus 30 days) or within 45 days of invoice. Building and engineering works are paid at Shotef + 70. Local authorities pay at Shotef + 45 (Shotef + 80 for works). Late payment carries indexation and interest.

How do I challenge an Israeli tender award?

Ask to inspect the tender committee’s file within 30 days of the award notice. Then file an administrative petition in the district court, sitting as a Court for Administrative Matters, within 45 days. Filing doesn’t suspend the contract, so ask for an interim order. Raise objections to tender terms before you bid, or a court may bar them later.

Sources

This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.