Quick Answer: Israel joined the Hague Apostille Convention on 12 November 1978. To use an Israeli document abroad — a birth certificate, marriage certificate, court judgment, or notarial act — you need an apostille from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (for government-issued documents such as civil registry certificates, and for court judgments) or from a court secretariat (for notarial acts). The fee is about NIS 41 per document at the time of writing (updated every January), and service at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem usually takes a few business days. Foreign documents bearing an apostille from another Hague-member country are accepted in Israel without further authentication.

Foreign nationals dealing with Israeli legal matters hit the apostille question sooner or later. An oleh needs a naturalization certificate authenticated for a foreign pension fund. A diaspora heir needs an Israeli succession order that a French notary will actually accept. An investor selling Israeli property from London needs a power of attorney that will pass an Israeli notary's review. The mechanism is the same in each case: a Hague apostille.

The Israeli process trips people up mainly because different bodies handle different document categories: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for government-issued documents, court judgments, and succession and probate orders, the court secretariats for notarial documents, and the Ministry of Justice for digital apostilles on digitally signed documents. Go to the wrong office and you can lose days, or have to start from scratch.

This guide covers which office to approach for which document, current fees and timelines, and the legalization chain for countries outside the Hague system.

1. What an Apostille Actually Does

The Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 (*the Apostille Convention*) created a single-step authentication system for public documents crossing borders. Before the Convention, using an official document in a foreign country required a chain of authentications: the issuing authority's stamp, then confirmation by a national ministry, then certification by the receiving country's consulate in the issuing country — sometimes four or five separate steps.

An apostille collapses all of that into one stamp. It certifies that the signature, seal, or stamp on the document is genuine and that the official who signed it had the authority to do so. It says nothing about the content or accuracy of the document. The apostille only confirms that the signature is real and the issuer is who they claim to be.

The apostille takes a prescribed square format with ten numbered elements: country, name of signatory, capacity in which they signed, city, date, issuing authority, number, seal or stamp of the authority, signature of the authority official. A document carrying a properly completed apostille is accepted in all 125+ Hague member states without any further authentication step.

The apostille does not authenticate a translation. If the receiving country needs the document in a different language, get it professionally translated after the apostille is attached, since the translation may itself need to be notarized or certified. Check with the receiving authority what it requires before you start.

In Practice — What the Apostille Does Not Do: An Israeli birth certificate (*teudat leidah*) issued by the Population and Immigration Authority and then apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be recognized as an authentic Israeli government document in any Hague member state. However, the apostille does not translate the Hebrew text. A French notary receiving the document may accept it as authentic but will still require a certified French translation before using the information in a succession or property transaction. The translation is a separate step, and in France, the translator may need to be a sworn translator (*traducteur assermenté*) for the document to be accepted by a French notaire. Confirm the exact requirement with the French authority before submitting the dossier.

2. Israel and the Hague Apostille Convention

Israel acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention on 12 November 1978. The Convention entered into force for Israel on that date and applies to all Israeli public documents issued since then. Documents issued before 1978 predate Israel's membership and may require alternative authentication approaches depending on the receiving country's requirements.

Membership means that Israeli apostilles are recognized in all other member states, and apostilles issued by other member states are recognized by Israeli authorities. As of 2026, the Convention has over 125 member states, including the United States, United Kingdom, all EU member states, Australia, Canada, and most countries with significant Israeli diaspora communities. The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) maintains a current member list at hcch.net.

Israel has implemented the e-apostille component of the Convention, giving receiving authorities an official government portal to verify any Israeli apostille by serial number. Counterfeit apostilles had been a recurring problem in high-value property and inheritance transactions; the electronic verification system has largely resolved it.

In Practice — Verifying an Israeli Apostille Electronically: Israeli apostilles issued since the implementation of the e-apostille system carry a unique serial number. Any receiving authority — a foreign court, notary, or government office — can enter this number into Israel's official e-apostille verification portal and confirm in real time that the stamp is genuine, the issuing official exists, and the apostille was issued on the stated date. This has eliminated the problem of counterfeit apostilles that previously affected high-value transactions. Foreign attorneys and notaries handling Israeli documents should routinely use the verification portal before relying on any Israeli apostille in a transaction, particularly for property matters where the document value is high.

3. Which Israeli Authority Issues Apostilles

Under the Hague Convention Regulations 1977, Israel's competent authorities are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the court secretariats, with the Ministry of Justice issuing digital apostilles. Which one you use depends on the document type, but the fee is the same at all of them: about NIS 41 per document at the time of writing (updated every January).

  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consular Division (Public Documents Authentication Branch, Jerusalem): apostilles public documents issued by Israeli government ministries and public bodies, such as Population Authority certificates, police certificates and Companies Registrar extracts
  • Court secretariats: apostille documents signed by Israeli notaries, after checking the notary's signature against the Ministry of Justice notaries register. Israeli court judgments are apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Population and Immigration Authority (Rashut HaAliya VeHaYeshiva) — civil registry documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce certificates, and death certificates are issued by the Population Authority. The apostille on a paper certificate is added by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the Population Authority has issued the document; a digitally signed certificate receives a digital apostille through the Ministry of Justice
  • Rabbinical Court (Beit Din HaRabbani HaGadol) — religious marriage and divorce certificates (ketubah, get) issued by the Rabbinical courts can be apostilled through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs once certified by the Rabbinical Courts Administration, though some receiving countries have specific requirements about Rabbinical Court documents

If you are unsure which authority handles your specific document, check the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Judicial Authority service pages on gov.il first. They confirm the current fee and process before you travel to any office.

In Practice: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Apostille Service (Jerusalem): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs apostille service for government-issued documents operates in Jerusalem with limited public hours (verify current hours before visiting, as they change periodically); documents can also be sent by mail or left in its drop boxes. The fee as of 2026 is about NIS 41 per apostille; it is updated every January, so check the current amount on gov.il. Payment is made in advance through the government payment service, and the receipt must accompany the documents. Israeli court judgments are also apostilled here; notarial documents are apostilled instead at a court secretariat, for the same fee. If the document is a certified court copy, bring both the original certified copy and one photocopy, since some offices keep the photocopy and return the original with the apostille attached.

4. Types of Israeli Documents That Can Receive an Apostille

The Hague Convention applies to *public documents*, which Israeli practice interprets to include:

  • Civil registry documents — birth certificates (teudat leidah), marriage certificates (teudat nisu'in), divorce certificates, death certificates (teudat petira), issued by the Population and Immigration Authority
  • Court documents — judgments, orders, decrees, and certified copies from Israeli courts at all levels (District Court, Magistrate's Court, Family Court, Labor Court, Supreme Court). Succession orders (tzav yerusha) and probate orders (tzav kiyum tzava'ah) are the exception: whether issued by the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs or by the Family Court, they are apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, not by a court secretariat, and are frequently apostilled for use in foreign inheritance proceedings
  • Notarial acts — affidavits, powers of attorney, and other documents executed before a licensed Israeli notary under the Notaries Law 5736-1976 are apostilled by a court secretariat, which verifies the notary's signature against the Ministry of Justice notaries register
  • Official government certificates — certificates of Israeli citizenship, naturalization certificates, and official statements from government ministries
  • Academic credentials — degree certificates from Israeli universities that carry an official university seal can sometimes be apostilled, though the receiving country may also accept a direct letter from the institution
  • Company Registry documents — certified extracts from the Israeli Companies Registrar (*Rasham HaChevrot*) confirming company status, directors, or share capital can be apostilled for use in foreign business transactions

Documents that cannot receive an apostille include purely private documents without an official signature or seal (a personal letter, an unsigned contract draft), and documents from institutions that are not public authorities (a private hospital's internal records, a private school certificate that has not been authenticated by the Ministry of Education).

In Practice — Apostille on an Israeli Succession Order for Foreign Inheritance: When a foreign national inherits assets in Israel and needs to transfer them to a foreign estate or foreign bank account, the Israeli succession order (*tzav yerusha*) must typically be apostilled before foreign banks and foreign tax authorities will recognize it. The process: obtain a certified copy of the order from the body that issued it (the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs, or the Family Court if the case went to court), then submit it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which apostilles succession and probate orders for about NIS 41 per apostille at the time of writing (the fee is updated every January, so check the current amount). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs accepts documents in person in Jerusalem, by mail or through its drop boxes, so allow a few business days in person and longer by post. The apostilled succession order is then accepted in the estate proceedings of any Hague member state. A probate order (*tzav kiyum tzava'ah*) follows the same path: a certified copy from the issuing body, then an apostille from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

5. The Step-by-Step Apostille Process for Israeli Documents

The process varies by document type but runs through the same four stages:

Step 1: Obtain the original document from its issuing authority

For civil registry documents: visit or apply online to the Population and Immigration Authority to obtain a fresh certified copy of the birth certificate, marriage certificate, or other document. Older documents may need to be re-issued in the current format before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will apostille them. Bring your Israeli ID card (teudat zehut) or passport.

For court documents: apply to the relevant court's registrar for a certified copy of the judgment or order. The registrar stamps the copy with a court seal and signs it. This certified copy is the document that will receive the apostille — bring the original judgment or order reference number to the court.

For notarial acts: the notarized document already carries the notary's official seal. Take the original to a court secretariat for apostilling.

Step 2: Submit to the apostille authority with the required fee

Bring the certified document to the correct apostille authority (see Section 3 above). Pay the apostille fee (about NIS 41 at the time of writing) in advance. Complete any required submission form. For court judgments, submit the certified copy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in person in Jerusalem, by mail or through its drop boxes.

Step 3: Collect the apostilled document

For in-person submission, collection is typically same-day or next-day. Postal submissions take longer — allow two to three weeks. The apostille office does not generally contact you when the document is ready; confirm the collection process when you submit.

Step 4: Arrange translation if needed

If the receiving country requires a translation, engage a certified translator after the apostille has been attached. Translating before apostilling can complicate the process, since some countries require the apostille to appear on the original-language document, not on the translation. Confirm the sequence with the receiving authority.

In Practice — Apostille on an Israeli Birth Certificate for a UK Visa Application: An oleh holding Israeli citizenship needed to present their Israeli birth certificate to the UK Home Office as part of a British citizenship-by-descent application for their child. The Population and Immigration Authority issued a new certified birth certificate (teudat leidah) within two business days of the online request. The applicant then submitted the document in person to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs apostille service in Jerusalem on a Sunday morning. The apostille was ready for collection the following day (Monday). Total fee: NIS 40 for the Population Authority re-issue plus about NIS 41 for the apostille. The apostilled birth certificate was then sent to a certified English translator; the UK Home Office accepted the apostilled Hebrew original accompanied by the certified translation without requiring further authentication. Total elapsed time from application to apostilled document in hand: four business days.

6. Foreign Documents for Use in Israel

When a foreign national needs to present a foreign document to an Israeli authority — a court, a notary, the Population and Immigration Authority, the Tax Authority, or the Companies Registrar — the same Hague Convention logic applies in reverse.

If the document comes from a Hague member state, it must carry an apostille issued by that country's competent authority. The Israeli receiving authority accepts the apostille without further authentication. An American court order bearing a US apostille, a German notarial act with a German apostille, a UK birth certificate with a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office apostille — all are accepted in Israel as authentic official documents.

Common foreign documents presented to Israeli authorities by foreign nationals include:

  • Foreign birth and marriage certificates for Population and Immigration Authority registration
  • Foreign court judgments for recognition in Israeli proceedings (note: recognition of foreign judgments is a separate legal process — see the guide on Enforcing Foreign Judgments in Israel)
  • Foreign powers of attorney (yipui koach) for use in Israeli real estate transactions or company matters
  • Foreign death certificates for Israeli probate or inheritance proceedings
  • Foreign criminal record checks for Israeli immigration applications
  • Foreign academic credentials for professional licensing in Israel
In Practice — Foreign Power of Attorney for an Israeli Property Transaction: A Canadian citizen living in Toronto wanted to sell her Israeli apartment through an agent without traveling to Israel. Her Israeli lawyer prepared a Hebrew-language power of attorney authorizing a representative in Israel to sign all sale documents on her behalf. She had the document notarized before a Canadian notary public, then obtained an apostille from the competent Canadian provincial authority (in Ontario, that is the Office of the Official Documents Services). The apostilled document was sent to Israel. The Israeli notary reviewing the document confirmed the apostille was genuine using the electronic verification number. The Israeli lawyer then used the apostilled power of attorney in the property sale transaction before the Israel Land Registry (*Tabu*) without any further authentication step. Total process time from signing in Canada to acceptance by the Israeli notary: eight business days, including courier transit.

7. Non-Hague Countries: Full Consular Legalization

When the destination country is not a Hague Convention member, an Israeli apostille alone is not enough. The document must go through full consular legalization: a chain of authentications where each layer certifies the one before it.

The standard chain for an Israeli document being sent to a non-Hague country runs:

  1. The document is issued or certified by the Israeli authority in the normal way (court, government ministry, Population Authority)
  2. For notarial documents, a court secretariat issues a certificate of authentication under the Notaries Law (not an apostille)
  3. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (*Misrad HaHutz*) confirms the preceding signature, typically at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Legalization Bureau in Jerusalem
  4. The receiving country's embassy or consulate in Israel certifies the Israeli Foreign Ministry's signature

The exact chain varies by country. Some non-Hague countries require only steps 3 and 4. Others require the entire chain including additional Israeli notarial steps at the start. Countries that commonly require full legalization for Israeli documents include India, China, the Gulf states, and several African and Southeast Asian nations. Always confirm the exact requirement with the target country's embassy in Israel before starting.

In Practice — Legalizing an Israeli Document for Use in the UAE: The United Arab Emirates is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an Israeli document for UAE authorities still needs the full consular chain: authentication by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then certification by the UAE embassy, a route that has been available since the Abraham Accords. When dealing with any Gulf state, verify current membership on the HCCH status table (hcch.net) before assuming either that an apostille is sufficient or that a full chain is needed, because membership keeps changing. Saudi Arabia, for example, joined the Convention with effect from 7 December 2022, so an Israeli apostille is the correct form of authentication for Saudi Arabia, although acceptance of Israeli documents there in practice is a separate question to raise with your counsel.

8. Common Situations for Foreign Nationals

Here are the situations that come up most often:

Inheritance: succession orders and wills

When an Israeli estate includes assets abroad, or when a foreign heir needs to present Israeli probate documents to a foreign bank or registry, the succession order (*tzav yerusha*) and any probate order (*tzav kiyum tzava'ah*) must be apostilled. The apostille is issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whether the order came from the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs or the Family Court, for about NIS 41 per apostille at the time of writing: obtain a certified copy of each order from the issuing body, then submit it to the Ministry. Allow two to four weeks from the date the order is issued to having apostilled copies in hand. See the guide on Inheriting Israeli Real Estate as an Overseas Heir for the full context of why this document is often the critical bottleneck in cross-border estate administration.

Real estate: powers of attorney and title documents

Foreign buyers and sellers of Israeli property who cannot be present in Israel typically grant a power of attorney to an Israeli representative. That foreign power of attorney must be apostilled in the country where it was signed before it will be accepted by an Israeli notary and the Israel Land Registry. Conversely, an Israeli power of attorney signed before an Israeli notary and apostilled by a court secretariat is accepted in most Hague member states for foreign property transactions involving Israeli parties. See Power of Attorney in Israel: A Practical Guide for the mechanics of the underlying document.

Civil status: birth and marriage certificates for foreign registration

Olim and diaspora families frequently need Israeli birth certificates apostilled for use in foreign civil registries, foreign social security administrations, or foreign citizenship applications. The process is straightforward — Population Authority issues the document, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs apostilles it — but it can take longer than expected if the Population Authority's records need to be updated before a new certificate can be issued. Start the process early if you are working to a foreign application deadline.

Debt collection: enforcing Israeli court judgments abroad

An Israeli court judgment must be apostilled before it can be submitted to a foreign court for recognition and enforcement proceedings. The court that gave the judgment issues a certified copy, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs apostilles it for about NIS 41 at the time of writing. The apostilled judgment is then the foundation document in the foreign enforcement application. See the guide on Enforcing an Israeli Court Judgment Abroad for the recognition process in major jurisdictions.

Corporate: company registry documents for international transactions

Foreign companies and banks involved in Israeli M&A, financing, or regulatory filings regularly require apostilled certified extracts from the Israeli Companies Registrar confirming the legal status, directors, and authorised signatories of an Israeli company. The Companies Registrar's office issues certified extracts; these are then apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For an urgent international transaction, submitting in person at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem is typically the fastest route.

In Practice — Apostille Package for a Cross-Border Property Sale: A British-Israeli dual national sold his Jerusalem apartment in June 2026 while residing in London. Because every document was Israeli and was used in Israel, none of them needed an apostille: the Companies Registrar extract, the power of attorney he signed before an Israeli notary during a brief visit to Israel, and the certified copy of the District Court order approving the sale (required because the property was partly owned by a minor) were all accepted as they were. An apostille only becomes relevant when an Israeli document is sent abroad. His UK bank did ask for proof of the sale, so his attorney obtained a certified copy of the court order and had it apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for about NIS 41. The Land Registry (*Tabu*) and the buyer's attorney accepted the Israeli documents without any additional authentication. The proceeds were transferred to a UK bank account following confirmation by the Israel Land Registry that the title transfer was complete.

Frequently Asked Questions

Israel has two paper apostille authorities under the Hague Apostille Convention. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs apostilles public documents issued by government bodies, such as Population and Immigration Authority birth, marriage and death certificates, police certificates and Companies Registrar extracts, as well as Israeli court judgments, while court secretariats apostille documents signed by Israeli notaries. Digitally signed documents receive a digital apostille through the Ministry of Justice. The fee is about NIS 41 per document at the time of writing (updated every January). If you are unsure where to go for your specific document, ask your Israeli attorney or notary before submitting.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, in-person submissions typically receive same-day or next-business-day service. Postal applications can take two to three weeks. Court secretariat apostilles on notarial documents are generally available within three to seven business days. For civil registry documents, add the time needed to obtain the fresh certified copy from the Population and Immigration Authority, which is often two to five business days for in-person applications and longer for postal requests. Always start the apostille process at least three weeks before your foreign deadline.
No. An apostille certifies that the signature and seal on the document are genuine — it says nothing about the document's content or its translation into another language. If the receiving country requires a Hebrew document in a different language, you must arrange a certified translation separately after the apostille has been attached. The translation itself may also need to be certified or notarized by the receiving country's requirements. Confirm the exact requirement with the foreign authority before starting.
You need full consular legalization: the document is authenticated by the issuing Israeli authority, then by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Legalization Bureau, then by your target country's embassy or consulate in Israel. Some non-Hague countries accept a shorter version of this chain. Always confirm the exact requirement with the target country's embassy in Israel before beginning, as the chain varies country by country.
Israel accepts apostilles issued by other Hague Convention member states. A foreign document (birth certificate, court judgment, power of attorney) bearing an apostille from its country of origin is recognized by Israeli courts and authorities without further authentication. For documents from non-Hague countries, the document must go through the legalization chain in the issuing country. The specific Israeli authority receiving the document — court registrar, Population Authority, notary — will confirm exactly what it requires before accepting the document.

Related Guides

Power of Attorney in Israel: A Practical Guide Enforcing Foreign Judgments in Israel Enforcing an Israeli Court Judgment Abroad Inheriting Israeli Real Estate as an Overseas Heir Transferring an Israeli Inheritance Abroad
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Adv. Eli Shimony

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Adv. Eli Shimony assists foreign nationals and diaspora families with Israeli legal matters requiring cross-border document authentication, including apostille applications, foreign judgment recognition, and international estate administration.

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