Quick Answer: Israeli arbitration law gives tribunals broad discretion to admit expert evidence submitted by the parties, to appoint their own tribunal expert, or to do both. Foreign parties can use experts from any country. Expert reports must meet requirements set by the arbitral tribunal, typically within 45 to 90 days of appointment, and experts are subject to cross-examination at the hearing. The losing party usually bears expert costs in the final award.

Construction defects, business valuations, accounting irregularities, technology failures, real estate appraisals — these disputes share a common problem. The facts go beyond what a lawyer or arbitrator can evaluate without a specialist. In Israeli arbitration, expert witnesses are how that specialist knowledge gets placed before the tribunal in a structured, challengeable form.

For a foreign party unfamiliar with Israeli proceedings, the expert evidence process can feel opaque. What follows covers the legal basis for expert evidence, the difference between party-appointed and tribunal-appointed experts, what a proper expert report must contain, how cross-examination and hot-tubbing work in practice, and how to keep expert costs from eating the economics of your claim.

Israeli arbitration is governed by two parallel statutes depending on the nature of the dispute:

  • Arbitration Law, 1968 (*Chok HaBorrim*, 5728-1968) — applies to domestic arbitrations and to international arbitrations where the parties have not elected the 2024 statute
  • International Commercial Arbitration Law, 2024 — incorporates the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration into Israeli law; applies to international commercial arbitrations where the seat is in Israel

Under the Arbitration Law, 1968, an arbitral tribunal has broad authority to conduct proceedings in the manner it sees fit, including the power to receive evidence, summon witnesses, and obtain specialist opinions. The law deliberately leaves procedural details — including expert evidence procedure — to the tribunal's discretion, rather than prescribing a rigid court-like structure. This flexibility is one of arbitration's main advantages for complex technical disputes.

Under the International Commercial Arbitration Law, 2024, Article 26 of the UNCITRAL Model Law applies directly. This article gives the tribunal explicit authority to appoint one or more experts to report on specific issues and to require a party to give the expert any relevant information or to produce any relevant documents for inspection.

In institutional arbitrations conducted under the rules of the Israel Centre for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), additional rules govern expert evidence. The ICCA Rules permit both party-appointed experts and tribunal-appointed experts and include provisions for joint expert meetings and concurrent expert evidence (hot tubbing).

Parties conducting international arbitrations in Israel frequently supplement these rules by adopting the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration, which provide a detailed and widely understood framework for expert reports, rebuttal reports, and witness conferencing.

In Practice — Choosing Your Procedural Framework

The first procedural order in an ICCA arbitration typically asks the parties to agree on an evidence protocol. If you are a foreign party unfamiliar with Israeli procedure, this is the right moment to propose adopting the IBA Rules on Evidence. Most Israeli arbitrators in international proceedings accept them readily. Establishing the IBA framework early prevents later disputes about whether an expert report was properly filed or whether cross-examination is a matter of right.

2. Party-appointed experts: rights, duties, and pitfalls

The most common form of expert evidence in Israeli arbitration is the party-appointed expert: each party retains its own specialist, who prepares a written report and appears at the hearing if called for cross-examination.

Party-appointed experts are retained and paid by the instructing party. But Israeli arbitrators, like international arbitral tribunals generally, expect them to act as independent witnesses rather than advocates. An expert who looks like a hired gun loses credibility fast — and can take the case down with them.

In proceedings adopting the IBA Rules on Evidence, this independence duty is codified, not merely expected. Article 5.2(c) requires every party-appointed expert report to include a statement that the expert understands their duty to the tribunal and will fulfil it independently of the party's instructions.

Common expert disciplines in Israeli commercial arbitration include:

  • Forensic accountants — for damages quantification, lost profits, and financial statement analysis
  • Real estate valuers (*שמאי מקרקעין*, shama'ei mekarka'in) — licensed by the Israeli Council of Real Estate Appraisers under the Real Property Appraisers Law, 2001; required for disputed property valuations before Israeli tribunals
  • Construction and engineering experts — for defects, delay analysis, and quantum of construction costs
  • Technology and software experts — for IT failure, software development disputes, and IP valuation
  • Medical experts — for professional negligence or personal injury claims occasionally referred to arbitration
In Practice — Real Estate Valuers and Licensing

If your arbitration involves disputed property values in Israel — a common scenario in real estate development and betterment tax disputes — the arbitrator will usually require the valuer to hold a valid Israeli licence from the Registrar of Real Estate Appraisers under the Real Property Appraisers Law, 2001. A foreign appraiser's report may be admitted as evidence, but Israeli arbitrators frequently give it less weight than a licensed local valuer's opinion. Engage an Israeli-licensed shama'i early, particularly in disputes involving properties registered with the Israel Land Authority (Rashut Mekarka'ei Yisrael).

3. Tribunal-appointed experts: when and how

An Israeli arbitral tribunal can appoint its own expert at any stage of the proceedings, either on its own initiative or at the request of one of the parties. This is more common in Israeli arbitration than in Anglo-American court proceedings, where court-appointed experts are relatively rare.

A tribunal-appointed expert is particularly likely when:

  • The competing party experts reach irreconcilable conclusions and the tribunal needs an independent view to break the deadlock
  • The subject matter is highly technical and the arbitrators lack the background to evaluate competing opinions without guidance
  • One party is unable to afford its own expert and the tribunal needs evidence on a key issue regardless
  • The arbitration agreement expressly provides for tribunal-appointed experts (some construction and infrastructure contracts do this)

Before appointing an expert, the tribunal will invite the parties to comment on the proposed expert's identity, qualifications, and the specific questions the expert will be asked to address (the terms of reference). Each party has the right to object to the appointment of a particular expert on grounds of lack of independence or conflicts of interest.

Once appointed, the tribunal expert prepares a report, which is circulated to the parties. The parties then have the right to submit written observations or a written rebuttal, and to cross-examine the expert at the hearing. The tribunal-appointed expert is not a decision-maker — the tribunal can depart from the expert's opinion in the award, although it must explain why.

In Practice — ICCA Expert Appointment Process

In ICCA-administered proceedings, when the tribunal decides to appoint an expert, the ICCA Secretariat typically assists by circulating candidate names drawn from the ICCA's expert panel. Parties have 10 days to raise objections to any proposed name. The tribunal then selects and formally appoints the expert, and the ICCA Secretariat collects a shared expert fee deposit from both parties — typically NIS 15,000 to NIS 50,000 per party for a mid-complexity dispute — held in escrow until the expert's final invoice is received.

4. Selecting and instructing your expert in Israeli proceedings

Getting the expert selection right matters more than most parties realise until they are already in the hearing. In Israel, two things trip up foreign parties most often: language and local market knowledge.

Language. Domestic Israeli arbitrations are conducted primarily in Hebrew. If your proceeding is in Hebrew, your expert will need to present evidence in Hebrew or work with a certified interpreter. Bilingual Israeli experts are available in most disciplines — accounting, engineering, and real estate. In international proceedings under the 2024 Act or the ICCA International Rules, English is often the agreed language, which broadens your expert pool to international specialists.

Local market knowledge. Israeli construction costs, real estate values, business multiples, and accounting standards differ meaningfully from those in the US, UK, or Europe. An expert who applies foreign benchmarks without adjusting for Israeli market conditions will face serious credibility challenges under cross-examination. If you rely on a foreign expert, supplement their evidence with an Israeli expert who confirms (or adjusts) the local data points.

Once selected, the expert should receive a formal written instruction letter from your legal team, not verbal direction. The instruction letter should:

  • Identify the specific questions the expert is asked to address (drawn from the tribunal's procedural order)
  • List the documents the expert is authorised to review
  • State the applicable Israeli law or standards relevant to their opinion
  • Confirm that the expert's duty is to the tribunal, not to the party
  • Set the deadline for the draft report and the final report
In Practice — Checking Conflicts Early

Israel's professional community is small. Before formally appointing any expert, ask them to run a conflicts check against all parties, counsel, and arbitrators. A forensic accountant who audited the respondent's subsidiary three years ago, or a real estate valuer who regularly works for the opposing counsel's law firm, will face a credibility challenge before the tribunal — and may need to withdraw after you have already invested time in briefing them. ICCA rules require experts to disclose any circumstances likely to give rise to justifiable doubts as to their independence.

5. The expert report: form, content, and deadlines

Israeli arbitration does not prescribe a single mandatory format for expert reports, but tribunals and institutional rules have developed consistent expectations. A well-structured expert report in an Israeli commercial arbitration will typically include:

  • Cover page — expert's full name, qualifications, date of report, name of the arbitration, and reference number
  • Independence declaration — a statement that the expert has reviewed their duties and understands their obligation to the tribunal
  • Executive summary — 1 to 2 pages summarising the expert's conclusions without jargon
  • Scope of instructions — the precise questions posed by the instructing party or the tribunal
  • Methodology — a clear explanation of the analytical approach, the data sources relied upon, and any assumptions made
  • Analysis — the substantive findings, organised by the questions in scope
  • Conclusions — clear, numbered answers to each question posed
  • Curriculum vitae — the expert's qualifications and relevant experience
  • List of documents reviewed — an appendix listing all materials considered

Under the IBA Rules on Evidence (Article 5.2), the expert report must also state the facts and assumptions on which the opinions are based, confirm that if those facts or assumptions turn out to be wrong the expert's conclusions may change, and contain a statement that the expert will supplement or amend the report if they become aware of new information requiring amendment.

Deadline compliance is strictly enforced in Israeli institutional arbitration. Missing a report deadline without prior tribunal approval can result in the expert report being excluded or given reduced weight, even if the report itself is compelling. If your expert needs more time, request an extension as early as possible and explain the reason in writing.

In Practice — Typical Report Timeline in ICCA Proceedings

In a standard ICCA domestic arbitration, the procedural timetable typically allows 45 days for simultaneous first-round expert reports, 30 days for rebuttal reports, and a joint expert meeting (to narrow issues) approximately 14 days before the final hearing. In larger international arbitrations under the 2024 Act, first-round reports may be given 90 days with rebuttals at 60 days. If you are approaching a deadline and your expert has not yet delivered a draft, escalate immediately — tribunals rarely grant extensions on the eve of a submission date.

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6. Cross-examination and hot tubbing

An expert report that survives cross-examination wins the argument. One that collapses because the methodology was flawed, the assumptions unrealistic, or the expert was unfamiliar with Israeli market conditions can set back the whole case.

In Israeli arbitration, cross-examination of expert witnesses follows a more flexible form than in Israeli court proceedings. The tribunal is not bound by strict rules of evidence, so arbitrators can and do ask their own questions, cut off repetitive lines of questioning, and direct the witness to the specific issues they consider important. The arbitrator's role in managing expert examination is more active than in a common law court.

Preparation for cross-examining the opposing expert should focus on:

  • Assumptions — identify every factual assumption in the report that is either unsupported or wrong; if the assumption falls, the conclusion may fall with it
  • Methodology — challenge any departure from standard Israeli or international professional practice; ask the expert why they used an unconventional approach
  • Data selection — question whether the expert's sample period, comparable transactions, or reference dataset was cherry-picked to favour one result
  • Prior inconsistent statements — check whether the expert has published or testified to contrary positions in prior proceedings or professional literature

Hot tubbing (concurrent expert evidence) is increasingly used in Israeli institutional arbitration, particularly in ICCA proceedings and in international arbitrations. In a hot-tub session, both parties' experts sit together in the hearing room and the arbitrator asks them structured questions — first identifying where they agree, then systematically exploring their disagreements. The format exposes the actual gap between competing opinions far more efficiently than sequential cross-examination, and it tends to reduce the temptation for experts to advocate rather than advise, since they are directly confronted by their counterpart.

If you want hot tubbing in your proceedings, propose it in the initial procedural order. Not all arbitrators and opposing counsel will agree — some find the format unfamiliar — but its use is growing in Israeli commercial arbitration as Israeli practitioners become more familiar with international best practices.

7. Expert costs and fee management

Expert evidence routinely becomes the largest line item in a complex Israeli arbitration budget. For foreign parties managing costs from abroad, the fees can accumulate faster than expected.

Israeli expert fees vary significantly by discipline and by the complexity of the matter. As a rough guide based on current market rates:

  • Real estate valuers (*shama'im*): NIS 8,000 to NIS 40,000 for a standard appraisal report; NIS 60,000+ for large commercial properties or portfolios
  • Forensic accountants and financial experts: NIS 20,000 to NIS 120,000 for a damages or business valuation report in a mid-sized dispute; NIS 300,000+ in complex matters with extensive document review
  • Construction and engineering experts: NIS 15,000 to NIS 80,000 depending on site visits required and complexity of the defects analysis

These fees cover preparation of the report only. Hearing attendance and cross-examination, travel (if the expert must appear in person), and preparation meetings with counsel add to the total cost.

Expert costs in the final award are normally charged to the losing party as part of the costs of the arbitration. That said, Israeli arbitrators have discretion to apportion them differently. If one party's expert evidence was unreliable or disproportionate to the amounts in dispute, the arbitrator can refuse to award those fees even when that party wins on the merits.

Practical steps that help:

  • Agree from the outset on a fee cap or fee estimate with your expert
  • Use a joint expert where the issue is straightforward — agree with opposing counsel to jointly instruct a single expert on a factual question (e.g., the current market value of a specific property) to avoid the cost of competing reports
  • Narrow the scope of expert instructions to the issues that genuinely need resolution; do not ask your expert to opine on issues that are not genuinely in dispute
  • Keep a contemporaneous record of expert invoices and timesheets — you will need this to recover expert costs in the award
In Practice — Expert Cost Recovery in the Award

To maximise expert cost recovery in the award, submit a detailed costs schedule listing each invoice paid to your expert, the work to which it relates, and the NIS or foreign-currency amount. Israeli arbitrators expect to see itemised costs, not a round-number claim. Under Section 30 of the Arbitration Law, 1968, the arbitrator has broad discretion to award costs of the proceedings, including reasonable expert fees. Claims for expert costs that lack documentary support are frequently discounted or rejected in awards.