Israel

Operating a business

Setting up a company

Legal business entities

Different types of companies	Number of partners/shareholders	Maximum and/or minimum capital	Liabilities	Registration fees
Public limited company = business corporation.	minimum.7 partners	no minimum.capital	liability limited to the amount of contributions.	1% when the capital is 0.6% when the capital is between 140,000 and 470,000 NIS. 0.1% when the capital is >470,000 NIS.
Limited Liability Private Company = SARL.	minimum 2 partners maximum 50 partners	no minimum.capital.	liability limited to the amount of contributions.	same
La General Partnership	maximum 20 partners.	no minimum.capital.	unlimited liability for debts and obligations of the company.	same
Limited Partnership.	maximum 20 partners.	no minimum.capital.	At least one partner should have an unlimited liability. The liability of other partners is limited to the amount of contributions.	same.

Business setup procedures

According to World Bank, Israel is the country where it is easier and quicker to create a company and obtain a credit. There are 5 administrative procedures for opening a business in Israel. The companies should be registered with the Trade Register. Documents to be drawn up in Hewbrew and a financial analysis in Shekels.

The competent organization

www.2binisrael.org.il
Site under joint responsibility of the Ministry of Aliyah Integration and the SME Authority (MATI).

www.asakim.org.il
Israeli site of MATI.

www.missioneco.org/israel
The site of the economic mission of the Embassy of France in Israel.

www.moit.gov.il
Site of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.

www.chamber.org.il
Site of The Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce.

www.export.gov.il
Israel Export Institute.

Economic and financial information

www.mof.gov.il/mainpage_eng.htm
English site of the Finance Ministry .

www.cbs.gov.il/engindex.htm
Site of the Central Bureau of Statistics.

www.themarker.com/eng
News of the world of business and technology.

www.bankisrael.gov.il/firsteng.htm
Site of the Bank of Israel

www.bdi.co.il
Israel Business Data : Information on the Israeli market, companies and products.

Israeli Companies

www1.kompass.com
enables to have access to numerous Israeli companies by area of specialisation.

en.egud.index.toolmar.pionetwebs.com/catalog/product.asp?cut=1&fid=2&lng=1
Exhaustive index of Israeli companies classified by specialisation.

www.science.co.il/Technology-Associations.asp
List of Trade associations in Israel.

www.industry.org.il/Eng
Site of Manufacturers Association of Israel.

www.israel-industrie.com.fr
Commercial Service of the Embassy of Israel in France.

www.science.co.il
Portal of Israeli science and technology.

Working conditions

Legal weekly duration: maximum 45 hours per week
Retirement age: From 60 to 65 years for women and from 65 to 70 years for men.
Working contracts: The employment contract is drawn up through legal provisions and to a lesser extent through collective agreements. The employment contract can be written or oral. It can be for indefinite, definite or temporary duration.

Cost of labor

Minimum wage: 3585.18 ILS.
Average wage: 7558 shekels
Social contributions: Social security contributions paid by employers: 4.93 %.
Social security contributions paid by employees: 9.70%

Social partners

Bargaining power: Most of the unions belong to Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel), or to a much smaller rival federation, the Histadrut Haovdim Haleumit (the National Labor Federation). Negotiations are carried out at the national and sectoral level.
Unions: Histadrut
Unionization rate: Unionisation rate in percentage of the labor market population in Israel : 23% in 2004.
Labor regulation bodies: Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor