Starting a Business · Israel
Starting a Business - Israel
Israel permits 100% foreign ownership of a private limited company with no local-shareholder or minimum-capital requirement, and registration with the Corporations Authority is typically completed within roughly 1-2 weeks once documents are in order. Incorporation is straightforward but requires an Israeli lawyer to verify the documents, and foreign shareholders' IDs/passports must be notarized and apostilled. Restrictions apply only in regulated or national-security sectors (defense, banking, telecom, insurance).
Foreigners may own up to 100% of an Israeli company with no requirement for a local partner or local shareholder; few restrictions apply except in defense and other national-security industries.
There is no legally mandated minimum share capital for a private limited company; in practice many companies are formed with nominal share capital (e.g., 100 shares of NIS 1).
File the Registrar's application (Form 1), Articles of Association (must be translated into Hebrew), and directors'/shareholders' declarations with the Corporations Authority online or via a representative; an Israeli lawyer must verify the documents.
Passports/incorporation certificates of non-Israeli shareholders must be notarized and accompanied by an apostille to be recognized by the Registrar.
Once documents are in order, the Registrar issues a Certificate of Incorporation and a 9-digit company number, often within about 7-14 business days; full operational setup (tax/VAT and bank account) typically takes 4-6 weeks.
After incorporation the company must register with the Israel Tax Authority (corporate tax and VAT) and National Insurance Institute; acquiring ~5%+ of control in banking, telecom or insurance requires prior government permit, and defense-sector corporations face national-security oversight.
Machine-assisted translation · verified 5/23/2026 · orientation, not legal advice. English version →