Skip to main content

    AI by country · Middle East

    AI in Israel: the rules, the readiness and where to start

    Last checked: 29 October 2026

    What should a company in Israel know before starting with AI?

    Israel has no general AI law as of 29 October 2026, and its 2023 AI policy favours sector rules and soft tools over one broad statute. The Privacy Protection Law, 5741-1981, as changed by Amendment 13 from 14 August 2025, is the main law for AI that uses personal data. A company should check whether it must appoint a data protection officer, how it handles sensitive data, and what its sector regulator expects.

    At a glance

    Israel at a glance

    Key facts about Israel
    Data protection lawPrivacy Protection Law, 5741-1981, as amended by Amendment 13 (in force 14 August 2025)
    RegulatorPrivacy Protection Authority (PPA), Ministry of Justice
    AI policyIsrael's Policy on AI Regulation and Ethics (December 2023), sector-based and non-binding. No general AI law as of 29 October 2026
    Time zoneIST, UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 in summer (India is 3.5 or 2.5 hours ahead)
    CurrencyILS (new shekel)
    Business languageHebrew, with Arabic and English also used

    Why now

    Why Israel is worth watching

    Each point links to the document it comes from.

    • The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology published Israel's first policy on AI regulation and ethics in December 2023, recommending sector regulation and a risk-based approach.[3]

    • The policy names seven challenges for AI in the private sector: discrimination, human oversight, explainability, disclosure of AI interactions, safety, accountability and privacy.[3]

    • Amendment 13 to the Privacy Protection Law entered into force on 14 August 2025 and gave the PPA new administrative sanction powers.[2]

    • The PPA's April 2025 guide to privacy-enhancing technologies explains techniques such as federated learning and differential privacy for AI and data projects.[2]

    • An interagency taskforce of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance and financial regulators published its final report on AI in the financial sector in December 2025.[4]

    The rules

    The rules that matter for AI

    What each law or policy means when you build or buy an AI system.

    Privacy Protection Law, 5741-1981 (as amended by Amendment 13)

    In force1981Amendment 13 took effect on 14 August 2025. Public bodies, data brokers, firms that systematically monitor people on a significant scale, and firms whose main activity is large-scale processing of sensitive data, such as banks, insurers and hospitals, must appoint a data protection officer (section 17B1). The PPA can now impose monetary sanctions, many of them calculated per person affected, so they grow with the size of the database.[1]

    Privacy Protection (Data Security) Regulations, 5777-2017

    In force2017These set the security duties for databases under section 17 of the law. The PPA says that where processing personal data is core to a company, or its activity raises privacy risk, the board must oversee compliance, including the duty to report data security breaches to the PPA immediately. The law also lets the Minister of Justice set conditions for transfers to databases abroad, so check them before using a cloud AI service outside Israel.[5]

    PPA draft guidance on applying the Privacy Protection Law to AI systems

    Draft2025Comments closed on 5 June 2025. A law-firm summary says the draft treats a data protection impact assessment as the recommended way to show compliance, calls scraping personal data from the internet for training without consent unlawful, and says firms that train models are very likely to need a data protection officer. We found no final version as of 29 October 2026.[6]

    Where AI fits first

    Where AI fits first

    Banking, insurance and investment

    Customer service, document review and fraud detection with human review of decisions.

    The December 2025 taskforce report covers explainability, human in the loop, disclosure, bias and governance for AI in finance. Banks and insurers are named in section 17B1 as needing a data protection officer.[4]

    Health care

    Imaging support and clinical summaries, with clinicians deciding.

    General hospitals and health maintenance organisations are named in section 17B1 as needing a data protection officer.[1]

    Telecoms and online services

    Churn prediction and support assistants.

    Mobile operators and search services are named as examples of systematic monitoring that requires a data protection officer.[1]

    Software and AI product companies

    Building AI features for export markets.

    The PPA's PETs guide suggests ways to reduce personal data in training and inference, such as differential privacy and trusted execution environments.[2]

    Your first steps

    Your first steps

    1. Check section 17B1 to see if you must appoint a data protection officer, and if so, appoint one who reports to the general manager.
    2. List which databases hold data of special sensitivity, as defined after Amendment 13, and how AI uses them.
    3. Review your data security controls against the Data Security Regulations, and brief the board.
    4. Check the transfer rules before sending personal data to an AI service abroad.
    5. Read the 2023 AI policy and follow your sector regulator's guidance, such as the financial taskforce report.
    6. Use privacy-enhancing techniques from the PPA guide to cut personal data in training and prompts.
    7. Tell people when they are dealing with AI, and keep a person able to review key decisions.

    AI services for Israel

    AI consulting and development for teams in Israel

    We work remotely with companies in Israel, in your time zone, and keep your data under the rules described above.

    AI agents and automation

    Agents that finish multi-step work across your tools, with people approving what matters.
    Learn more

    Document Q&A (RAG)

    Answers from your own documents, with the source shown for every answer.
    Learn more

    AI governance and data protection

    Policies, review steps and audit trails that fit your local data law.
    Learn more

    Software and cloud engineering

    Web apps, integrations and cloud platforms built around your AI use case.
    Learn more

    How we work with you

    How we work with you

    We work remotely with clients worldwide, in the client's time zone. Israel is on UTC+2 in winter, including on 29 October 2026, and UTC+3 in summer, while India is on UTC+5:30. Taking a 9:00 to 17:00 day in Israel and 9:30 to 18:30 in India, the overlap is about 6 hours in winter (09:00 to 15:00 Israel time) and about 7 hours in summer (09:00 to 16:00). The Israeli working week is usually Sunday to Thursday, so Monday to Thursday are shared working days.

    Questions

    Common questions about AI in Israel

    Does Israel have an AI law?

    Not a general one as of 29 October 2026. The 2023 AI policy recommends sector regulation and soft tools, and says its principles are not legally binding.

    What changed with Amendment 13?

    It took effect on 14 August 2025. It updated key definitions, added duties to appoint a data protection officer for certain bodies, and gave the PPA administrative sanction powers.

    Do we need a data protection officer?

    If you are a public body, a data broker with over 10,000 people's data, a firm that systematically monitors people on a significant scale, or a firm whose main activity is large-scale processing of sensitive data, section 17B1 says yes.

    Is there AI-specific privacy guidance?

    The PPA has published an English guide on privacy-enhancing technologies. It also consulted on a Hebrew draft about AI systems until 5 June 2025, but we found no final version.

    Complimentary tools

    Try these first

    Three complimentary tools from our AI Toolkit that suit a team starting out.

    AI readiness score

    Answer a few questions and see where your team stands, in about five minutes.
    Open the tool

    AI use case triage

    Test an idea against data, risk and effort before you spend on it.
    Open the tool

    AI project cost estimator

    Get a rough build and run cost range for a first AI project.
    Open the tool

    Read next

    Sources

    Sources

    Facts checked on 29 October 2026. Numbers in square brackets above match this list.
    1. [1] Privacy Protection Authority, gov.il, 2025-08-14. Privacy Protection Law, 5741-1981, unofficial translation updated after…(gov.il)
      Full title and what we used it for

      Privacy Protection Law, 5741-1981, unofficial translation updated after Amendment 13. Primary, unofficial English translation from the government site; the Hebrew text controls. Used for section 17B1 and the structure of monetary sanctions. The date is Amendment 13's entry into force.

    2. [2] Privacy Protection Authority, gov.il, 2025-04-01. Guide to Privacy-Enhancing Technologies(gov.il)
      Full title and what we used it for

      Guide to Privacy-Enhancing Technologies. Primary. Used for the PETs content and its statement that Amendment 13 was to enter into force on 14 August 2025.

    3. [3] Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, gov.il, 2023-12-18. Responsible Innovation: Israel's Policy on Artificial Intelligence Regu…(gov.il)
      Full title and what we used it for

      Responsible Innovation: Israel's Policy on Artificial Intelligence Regulation and Ethics. Primary. Used for the December 2023 publication, the seven challenges, the sectoral and soft regulation approach, and that the principles are not binding.

    4. [4] Interagency Taskforce on AI in Finance, gov.il, 2025-12-01. AI in the Financial Sector: Final Report(gov.il)
      Full title and what we used it for

      AI in the Financial Sector: Final Report. Primary. Used for the taskforce's members and the topics it covers. Published in December 2025.

    5. [5] Privacy Protection Authority, gov.il, 2024-01-01. Privacy Protection Authority Guidance No. 1/2024: The Role of the Board…(gov.il)
      Full title and what we used it for

      Privacy Protection Authority Guidance No. 1/2024: The Role of the Board of Directors under the Privacy Protection Regulations (Data Security). Primary. Used for the Data Security Regulations, board oversight and the duty to report breaches immediately. Numbered 1/2024; the exact day is not shown. The law text (s1) was used for the power to set rules on transfers abroad.

    6. [6] Gornitzky & Co., 2025-05-11. Privacy in Artificial Intelligence Systems: Guidelines of the Israeli P…(gornitzky.com)
      Full title and what we used it for

      Privacy in Artificial Intelligence Systems: Guidelines of the Israeli Privacy Protection Authority. Law-firm summary of the Hebrew draft, used for interpretation only: the comment deadline and the draft positions. We did not read the draft itself.

    This is general information, not legal advice. We worked from an unofficial English translation of the law, and some guidance exists only in Hebrew. Check with a qualified Israeli lawyer before you act. Facts checked on 29 October 2026.

    Other country guides

    Starting with AI in Israel?

    Talk to an engineer. The first call is free, and we start with a readiness assessment before any budget is committed.

    Talk to our team Get your AI score