Quick Answer: Israel's Pledges Registry (Misrad HaMashkonot) is a public register of pledges on moveable assets — equipment, inventory, company shares, intellectual property, accounts receivable, and vehicles. A pledge does not bind third parties until it is registered. Registration is done online through the Ministry of Justice portal for a fee of roughly NIS 100–350, and the creditor who registers first has priority over all later creditors. Anyone can search the registry for free to check whether a debtor's assets are already encumbered.

Most foreign nationals who deal with Israeli law focus on the two big registries: the Land Registry (Tabu) for real estate and the Companies Registrar (Rasham HaChavarot) for company data. But there is a third public register that every lender, investor, and trade creditor ought to know — the Misrad HaMashkonot, Israel's Pledges Registry.

The Pledges Registry sits under the Israeli Pledges Law 5727-1967 (Chok HaMashkon) and covers any pledge on moveable property. "Moveable" is broadly defined: besides physical assets, it includes rights — accounts receivable, software, trademarks, and company shareholdings in private companies. If you are about to lend money to an Israeli company, buy its assets, or acquire a minority stake, a Pledges Registry search tells you whether someone else already has a registered claim over the very things you are paying for.

1. What the Pledges Registry Does

The Pledges Registry was created under Section 4 of the Pledges Law 5727-1967. Under that law, a pledge created by agreement between a lender and a borrower is binding between the two parties from the moment they sign. But it has no effect on third parties — other creditors, buyers, or a liquidator in insolvency — unless and until it is registered at the Pledges Registry.

A pledge that is not registered is invisible to everyone else in the market. A buyer who acquires a machine from a company, a bank that lends against the same machine a week later, or a liquidator distributing the company's assets after insolvency — none of them are bound by an unregistered pledge, even if the pledge agreement was signed months earlier.

Registration creates public notice. Once recorded, the pledge is deemed known to the world. Anyone who deals with the same asset afterward takes it subject to your registered claim. The practical rule: register before you advance funds.

The Pledges Registry sits under the Ministry of Justice. It is fully digitized — searches and registrations go through the Ministry of Justice portal (gov.il), with no appointment or court appearance required for a standard filing.

In Practice — Pledges Law Section 4 (Third-Party Effect): Section 4 of the Pledges Law 5727-1967 provides that a pledge takes effect against third parties only from the time of registration at the Pledges Registry. Sections 11–12 then establish that competing pledges are ranked in order of their registration date and time — not the date they were signed. The Ministry of Justice Pledges Registry timestamps every registration to the minute. In a tight competition between two lenders — one who signed first but delayed registering, and one who signed second but ran to the registry — the second lender wins. Practitioners call this the "race to register," and it is not a metaphor.

2. What Assets Can Be Pledged Under Israeli Law

Under Section 1 of the Pledges Law 5727-1967, any asset or right can be pledged unless a specific law prohibits it. In practice, the following categories are the most commonly encountered in commercial transactions:

Physical (Tangible) Assets

  • Business equipment and machinery
  • Manufacturing inventory and raw materials
  • Agricultural produce and livestock
  • Vehicles (cars, trucks, construction machinery) — a pledge registered at the Pledges Registry is distinct from the notation that can be made in the vehicle licensing records, but the two work together
  • Furniture and fixtures in commercial premises

Financial Rights and Receivables

  • Accounts receivable and future contract payments
  • Bank account balances (pikadot)
  • Insurance policy cash values and maturity proceeds
  • Proceeds of ongoing contracts

Intellectual Property

  • Patents and patent applications registered in Israel under the Patents Law 5727-1967
  • Trademarks registered at the Israeli Patents, Designs and Trademarks Office (ILPTO)
  • Copyright and software — a pledge on software is registered at the Pledges Registry even though the underlying IP may also have a registration elsewhere
  • Know-how and trade secrets (as contractual rights)

Company Shares

Shares in Israeli private companies (chevrot priviot) can be pledged. Because private company shares are not traded on a public market, the pledge is registered at the Pledges Registry. The pledging of shares in a public company listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) follows a separate procedure through the securities clearing system. For startup investments involving pledges of founder or investor shares, the Pledges Registry is the correct venue.

Floating Charges

A floating charge (mashkon shotef) is a single pledge that covers all present and future assets of the pledging company, rather than a specific identified asset. It "floats" over the company's asset pool as assets come and go through ordinary business. When a trigger event occurs — typically appointment of a receiver, commencement of insolvency proceedings, or a specific contractual trigger — the floating charge "crystallizes" and attaches to whatever assets the company holds at that moment. Banks lending to Israeli companies routinely require a floating charge, often combined with specific fixed pledges on individual high-value assets.

In Practice — Floating Charge in a Typical Israeli Term Loan: An Israeli technology company borrowed NIS 8 million from a foreign bank under a 3-year facility agreement. The security package included: (1) a fixed pledge over the company's registered Israeli patents (registered at the Pledges Registry and noted with the ILPTO), (2) a fixed pledge over the company's main bank account at Bank Hapoalim (registered at the Pledges Registry and notified to the bank), and (3) a floating charge over all present and future assets of the company (registered at the Pledges Registry). The floating charge registration fee at the Ministry of Justice was NIS 280. The registration took effect on the date and time of submission — 11:47 a.m. on closing day — and placed the bank first in priority over all subsequent pledge-holders. Under Section 11 of the Pledges Law, that timestamp is the bank's priority date against any future creditor of the company.

3. How to Search the Pledges Registry

The Pledges Registry is public. Anyone can search it without an Israeli ID, a local lawyer, or any special access — including someone sitting in London or New York with just the debtor's company registration number.

How to conduct a search

Go to the Ministry of Justice online portal (gov.il) and navigate to the Pledges Registry search tool (Misrad HaMashkonot). You can search by:

  • The Israeli ID number (mispar teudat zehut) of an individual pledgor
  • The company registration number (mispar osakim) of a corporate pledgor — found on the Companies Registrar database
  • The pledge registration number if you already have it

The search returns all active pledges registered against that debtor, showing: the registration date and time, the pledgee's name, a description of the pledged assets, the secured amount (if stated), and the pledge's expiry date (if one was registered). As of 2026, the Ministry of Justice charges a nominal fee of approximately NIS 13 per search result page through the payment gateway.

What a search does — and doesn't — tell you

A Pledges Registry search shows pledges that have been registered. An unregistered pledge will not appear, but under Section 4 of the Pledges Law such a pledge has no effect against you as a third party anyway. The search result is therefore a complete picture of priority claims you need to worry about.

The search does not reveal real estate mortgages — those are at the Land Registry (Tabu). It also does not show tax liens registered by the Israel Tax Authority (ITA) or the National Insurance Institute (NII) through their separate enforcement systems, which can have super-priority over registered pledges in certain circumstances.

In Practice — Due Diligence on an Israeli Asset Purchase: A European manufacturing company was acquiring the production equipment of an Israeli factory for EUR 1.2 million. Before signing, the buyer's Israeli counsel ran a Pledges Registry search on the seller's company registration number. The search revealed two registered pledges: one in favor of a leasing company covering "all equipment at the Ashdod premises" (registered 3 years earlier, NIS 850,000 secured), and one in favor of a regional bank covering "all company assets" (a floating charge, registered 5 years earlier). Both pledges were still within their registered duration and had not been released. The buyer required the seller to obtain written release certificates (teudat shlisha) from both pledgees before closing, and the deal price was escrowed until the releases were filed and confirmed at the Pledges Registry. Without that search, the buyer would have taken possession of EUR 1.2 million in assets legally subject to NIS 850,000 in prior claims.

4. How to Register a Pledge on Israeli Assets

A pledge is created by a written or oral agreement under Section 2 of the Pledges Law 5727-1967. For commercial transactions, always use a written pledge agreement — oral pledges are legally valid but practically unenforceable in any dispute. To make it effective against third parties, you must register it.

The registration process (2026)

Registration is done through the Ministry of Justice portal. The steps are:

  1. Prepare a signed pledge agreement between the pledgee (creditor) and pledgor (debtor)
  2. Complete the digital registration form at the Ministry of Justice portal (requires the pledgor's consent — the form is countersigned electronically or the pledgor provides a confirmation code)
  3. Upload a copy of the pledge agreement (PDF)
  4. Pay the registration fee online
  5. The Registry assigns a registration number and timestamp; the registration is immediately active

For a foreign pledgee with no Israeli digital signature, registration is handled through a licensed Israeli attorney who can submit the application and manage the digital signature requirements on your behalf.

Registration fees (2026)

Pledge Type Approx. Fee (NIS)
Fixed pledge on a specific asset 100–200
Floating charge (all company assets) 250–350
Extension of existing pledge duration 75–150
Release of pledge (shlisha) 50–100
Certified search extract 13 per page

Duration and renewal

A pledge registration can be for a fixed term or indefinitely. Most commercial pledges are registered for the duration of the loan plus a buffer period (for example, a 3-year loan might be registered for 5 years). If the pledge is not renewed or extended before expiry, it lapses. A lapsed pledge no longer appears as active in the registry, but the underlying debt obligation survives — you just lose your priority over other creditors unless you re-register.

In Practice — Pledges Law Section 4 and the Priority Race: Two investors lent money to the same Israeli startup on the same day, both relying on a pledge of the company's entire patent portfolio as security. Investor A signed their pledge agreement at 10 a.m. and went to register at 3 p.m. Investor B signed at 2 p.m. but submitted their registration at 1:55 p.m. (their counsel had drafted the paperwork earlier and filed before Investor A). Under Section 11 of the Pledges Law 5727-1967, Investor B holds first priority — their 1:55 p.m. timestamp beats Investor A's 3:00 p.m. timestamp, even though Investor A's agreement was signed five hours earlier. Investor A's pledge is valid between the parties but junior to Investor B in any liquidation. This scenario plays out routinely in Israeli venture financings — experienced practitioners file registration at the same moment as (or before) disbursing funds.

5. Priority Rules Between Competing Pledges

The priority rules are strict and mechanical. Before relying on any Israeli security arrangement, you need to know exactly where you stand in the queue.

General rule: first registered wins

Under Section 11 of the Pledges Law 5727-1967, competing pledges over the same asset are ranked in the order of their registration at the Pledges Registry. A creditor who registers on day one is senior to a creditor who registers on day two, regardless of when the pledge agreements were signed.

Registered pledge beats unregistered pledge

A registered pledge beats an unregistered pledge in all circumstances. Even if the unregistered pledge was created years before, Section 4 of the Pledges Law gives unregistered pledges no effect against third parties. A buyer or subsequent lender who deals with the pledged asset after the registered pledge has been recorded takes subject to that registered pledge — and is protected against the unregistered one.

Between unregistered pledges

If two pledges are both unregistered (which is rare in properly advised transactions), Section 12 of the Pledges Law gives priority to the pledge that was created first — i.e., the earlier-signed agreement. But this only matters between the original parties; neither pledge binds third parties.

Super-priority: government tax and NII debts

The Israel Tax Authority (ITA) and the National Insurance Institute (NII) each have statutory collection powers that can override registered pledges in certain circumstances. Under the Tax Ordinance and the NII Law, tax and NII debts become a lien on all debtor assets when the debtor fails to pay and formal enforcement commences — and this lien can rank ahead of earlier registered pledges if the statutory formalities for the government lien are satisfied first. In practice, foreign lenders to Israeli companies should insist on representations that no ITA or NII enforcement procedures are pending, and should check those records as part of closing due diligence alongside the Pledges Registry search.

Priority in insolvency

In an Israeli company insolvency under the Insolvency and Financial Rehabilitation Law 5778-2018, secured creditors — those holding registered pledges — are treated better than unsecured creditors. They can enforce their pledge against the specific pledged asset outside the general creditor pool, subject to the insolvency administrator's authority to challenge transactions made in the suspect period (typically 6–12 months before insolvency). A floating charge holder is further subject to a carve-out: 25% of the floating charge realization proceeds must be allocated to general unsecured creditors, not the floating charge holder, under Section 243 of the 2018 Law. This is a significant rule for lenders relying primarily on a floating charge rather than fixed pledges on specific assets.

In Practice — Insolvency and Floating Charge (Section 243, 2018 Insolvency Law): An Israeli company owed NIS 12 million under a bank loan secured by a floating charge over all assets. When the company was placed in liquidation, the appointed receiver realized NIS 9 million from the sale of assets. Under Section 243 of the Insolvency and Financial Rehabilitation Law 5778-2018, the bank's floating charge recovery was capped to 75% of proceeds — NIS 6.75 million. The remaining NIS 2.25 million (25%) was pooled with unsecured creditor claims. The bank recovered only 56% of its loan despite holding a registered floating charge. This outcome is why experienced Israeli lenders pair a floating charge with fixed pledges on specific high-value assets (equipment, IP, real estate mortgage where applicable) — fixed pledges are not subject to the 25% carve-out and are enforced in full before the floating charge pool is divided.
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6. Enforcing a Pledge When the Debtor Defaults

When a borrower defaults on the secured obligation, the pledgee has several enforcement routes under the Pledges Law. The choice between them depends on what the pledge agreement says and whether the debtor is cooperating.

Route 1 — Execution Office enforcement (most common)

This is the standard path. The pledgee opens an enforcement file at the Execution Office (Lishkat HaHotzaa LaPoal), the administrative enforcement arm of the Ministry of Justice, and requests seizure and sale of the pledged asset under the Execution Law 5727-1967.

The Execution Office sends an enforcement officer (soher hotzaa lapoal) to take possession of the asset. For equipment or vehicles, this means physical seizure; for shares or receivables, it means a freeze and transfer order. Once seized, the asset is valued (the debtor may request an independent valuation) and offered at public tender — an auction that anyone can attend. Proceeds are distributed: Execution Office fees first, then the pledgee up to the secured amount, then any surplus to the debtor (or to junior pledgees if there are any).

Route 2 — Self-help enforcement (limited circumstances)

Section 17 of the Pledges Law allows a pledgee to realize the pledged asset without going through the Execution Office, but only under strict conditions:

  • The pledge agreement must expressly authorize self-help enforcement
  • The pledgee must already have possession of the asset (for example, the pledged item was physically delivered into the pledgee's custody)
  • The debtor must not object

If the debtor contests the enforcement, self-help is immediately blocked and the pledgee must revert to the Execution Office. Attempting self-help over a debtor's objection — physically entering premises to remove assets without a court order — constitutes a civil wrong and potentially a criminal offence under Israeli law. This is a hard limit that foreign creditors accustomed to more permissive self-help regimes sometimes overlook.

Route 3 — Court order for urgent cases

Where there is a genuine risk that the debtor is about to destroy, dissipate, or transfer the pledged asset, a pledgee can apply to the District Court for an urgent restraining order (tzav ikul zmanit) under Regulation 362 of the Civil Procedure Regulations 5744-1984. The court can grant such an order within 24–48 hours in genuine emergencies, freezing the asset in place while the enforcement proceeds through the Execution Office.

In Practice — Enforcing a Pledge on a Vehicle Fleet: A logistics company in Israel defaulted on a NIS 1.8 million leasing facility secured by a registered pledge on a fleet of 12 commercial trucks. The leasing company opened an Execution Office file (file-opening fee: NIS 988 for a debt over NIS 75,000) and requested seizure of the vehicles using their registration numbers. The Execution Office dispatched enforcement officers. Three trucks were located at the company's Rishon LeZion depot and seized on day 14 after filing. Two were found at third-party premises and seized on day 21 following a court-assisted location order. Four were discovered pledged to a second creditor who had registered after the leasing company — the leasing company's prior registration gave it first claim to those four as well. Twelve trucks were ultimately located, seized, and sold at public tender within 8 weeks of the enforcement file opening, recovering NIS 1.34 million — 74% of the outstanding debt. The remaining NIS 460,000 was pursued as an unsecured claim.

7. Foreign Creditors and Investors: What You Must Know

Foreign parties coming into Israel tend to focus on the Tabu and the Companies Registrar, and often discover the Pledges Registry only after a problem surfaces. The points below cover the gaps that come up most often.

Your foreign security agreement is not enough

A security agreement governed by New York, English, or German law does not automatically register in Israel. Israeli law requires a separate filing at the Israeli Pledges Registry to bind third parties — the foreign document alone does not do it. If a competing creditor registers on the same assets after your agreement is signed but before you file in Israel, they take priority. Instruct Israeli counsel to register on the day you sign the security documentation, not afterward.

Conducting due diligence before a transaction

Before completing any of the following, run a Pledges Registry search on the Israeli counterparty:

  • Lending to an Israeli company or individual
  • Buying physical assets, equipment, or a vehicle from an Israeli business
  • Buying shares in a private Israeli company
  • Acquiring an Israeli company's business (asset deal vs. share deal distinction matters)
  • Taking over an ongoing contract where the seller's rights may be pledged

Obtaining a release certificate before closing

If a Pledges Registry search reveals existing pledges on assets you are buying, require the seller to obtain a formal pledge release (teudat shlisha) from each pledgee before or simultaneously with closing. The release is filed at the Pledges Registry and takes effect from the date of filing. Escrow the purchase price until the release is confirmed in the registry search. Closing before releases are filed leaves you acquiring encumbered assets.

Share pledges and private companies

If you are lending to a company and taking a pledge over the founder's or shareholder's shares as security, be aware that enforcing a share pledge requires the right to transfer shares — which is governed by the company's articles of association and any shareholders' agreement. Most Israeli private company articles include pre-emption rights and transfer restrictions. A share pledge that cannot be freely transferred on enforcement is worth considerably less than anticipated. Review the articles before accepting shares as collateral, and consider requiring that the company's articles be amended to permit enforcement-triggered transfers if needed.

Companies Registrar notification for share pledges

Under Sections 152–153 of the Companies Law 5759-1999, a pledge on shares in an Israeli private company must also be reported to the Companies Registrar (Rasham HaChavarot) within 21 days of creation — in addition to the Pledges Registry. Failure to file with the Companies Registrar does not invalidate the pledge between the parties, but it does affect priority and enforcement against other parties and in insolvency proceedings. Israeli counsel handling a share pledge transaction should file both registrations simultaneously at closing.

In Practice — Foreign Lender Taking Israeli Security (Two-Registry Problem): A UK private credit fund lent USD 5 million to an Israeli SaaS company under an English-law facility agreement. The security package included: (1) a pledge over all the Israeli company's IP assets and (2) a pledge over the founder's shares (40% of the company). The UK fund's English counsel drafted a comprehensive fixed charge debenture governed by English law. That document was valid under English law but created no enforceable security in Israel until Israeli counsel filed: (a) a registration at the Pledges Registry covering the IP assets and the founder's shares (registration number assigned same day, fee NIS 310 total), and (b) a notification to the Companies Registrar under Section 152 of the Companies Law 5759-1999 (filed within 21 days of closing, fee NIS 85). The Israeli registration was confirmed within 2 business days of the online submission. The fund's Israeli priority date was confirmed as the timestamp on the Pledges Registry submission — protecting it against any subsequent creditor of the Israeli company.

Practical checklist for foreign lenders and investors

  • Search the Pledges Registry on the debtor before disbursing any funds
  • Search the Land Registry (Tabu) if real estate is involved
  • Search the Companies Registrar for any registered charges filed there
  • Obtain ITA and NII clearance letters confirming no active tax liens or NII enforcement
  • Sign the pledge agreement and register at the Pledges Registry on the same day as (or before) disbursing funds
  • For share pledges: also notify the Companies Registrar within 21 days
  • For vehicle pledges: also register with the Vehicle Licensing Authority (Rasham HaRechev) for practical enforcement purposes
  • Calendar the pledge expiry date and set a reminder to renew before it lapses
  • Include a covenant in the loan agreement prohibiting the debtor from creating additional pledges without the creditor's consent (a negative pledge covenant)