Virtual Arbitration in Israel: A Complete Guide for Foreign Parties

If you have a dispute with an Israeli company or business partner and traveling to Israel for multiple hearings feels impractical — or if your counterpart is also abroad — you are not the only one asking whether arbitration can happen remotely. This comes up constantly in cross-border transactions: tech licensing deals where one party is in California and the other in Tel Aviv, real estate disputes between a foreign investor and an Israeli developer, or supply agreements where the supplier is in Germany and the buyer is in Tel Aviv.

Israeli law has always permitted this in principle, and the 2024 International Commercial Arbitration Law (ICA Law 2024) made the rules explicit. This guide covers how remote proceedings actually work: which statute governs, how to write a clause that locks in virtual participation, what happens with evidence and documents, and whether the resulting award holds up when you need to use it.

1. Overview of Israeli Arbitration Law

Israel has two parallel arbitration tracks. Domestic arbitrations — and international ones where the parties have not chosen the international framework — are governed by the Arbitration Law, 1968 (Hok HaBorrut, תשכ"ח-1968). New since February 2024 is the International Commercial Arbitration Law, 2024 (ICA Law 2024), modeled closely on the UNCITRAL Model Law as amended in 2006.

The ICA Law 2024 applies where at least one party has its place of business outside Israel, where the dispute has meaningful international connections, or where the parties have agreed it governs. For most foreign nationals in a dispute with an Israeli counterpart, it applies automatically — no specific clause needed. The ICA Law is considerably more explicit than the 1968 Act on party autonomy and procedural flexibility, which is why knowing which track you are on makes a practical difference.

2. Legal Framework for Virtual Hearings

Both Israeli arbitration statutes give parties wide control over how proceedings run. That is where the permission to go virtual comes from.

Under the 1968 Arbitration Law, Section 4 gives the parties wide freedom to determine procedure: parties may, by agreement, vary or exclude any provision of the attached Schedule. Schedule Section 16 provides that the arbitrator shall decide how the hearing is conducted, and nothing in the statute restricts hearings to a physical location. Israeli courts have long recognized that arbitrators may conduct proceedings in ways the 1968 Act does not explicitly address, including entirely by written submissions.

Under the ICA Law 2024, the framework is even clearer:

• Article 18 — equal treatment and a full opportunity to present each party's case "in whatever form the parties have agreed upon or the arbitral tribunal considers appropriate"
• Article 19 — parties are free to agree on the procedure to be followed, with no geographic or physical limitation
• Article 24(1) — the arbitral tribunal shall decide whether to hold oral hearings or conduct proceedings on documents alone, "subject to contrary agreement by the parties"

A written procedural order establishing that all sessions will be conducted via video conference is both legally valid and enforceable under Israeli law, regardless of which statute governs the arbitration.

3. Setting Up Virtual Proceedings

Locking in remote participation starts with the arbitration clause. Leave the format open and you risk a dispute about the dispute: once a conflict arises, the other party may refuse to participate virtually, using procedural wrangling as a delaying tactic.

In the contract clause (before a dispute)

After selecting the seat, governing law, and arbitral rules, add a sentence along these lines: "All hearings, including the preliminary hearing and oral argument, may be conducted by video conference at the election of either party, and the arbitral tribunal shall issue a procedural order to that effect within 30 days of its constitution."

In the procedural order (after a dispute arises)

Once the tribunal is constituted, either party can request a virtual hearing order. The first procedural order should cover:

• The video platform to be used (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or a specialized legal platform)
• Who is responsible for sending access credentials before each session
• The backup protocol if a connection fails mid-hearing
• Whether sessions will be recorded and the applicable confidentiality rules for recordings
• Time zone to be used for all scheduled times (Israel Standard Time, UTC+2 / UTC+3 during daylight saving)

If the contract is silent on format

If the contract says nothing about hearing format and a dispute has already arisen, you can still request virtual proceedings. File a written procedural application citing ICA Law 2024 Article 24(1), which gives the tribunal discretion to set the format even without agreement. Israeli arbitrators regularly grant such requests when a party is located abroad and requiring travel would be disproportionate relative to the size of the dispute.

4. Technology, Evidence, and Electronic Signatures

Platform choice is not just a technical decision. It has direct consequences for confidentiality, evidence admissibility, and data protection compliance — all of which can be raised if an award is ever challenged.

Platforms and confidentiality

Israeli arbitration practitioners currently use Zoom Business, Microsoft Teams, and specialized legal video platforms such as Opus2 or Relativity Conduct for larger matters. The key requirement under Israeli law is that the platform comply with the Privacy Protection Law, 1981 (חוק הגנת הפרטיות, תשמ"א-1981). For matters involving personal data processed through an EU-based platform, parties should separately confirm GDPR compliance. The Israeli Privacy Protection Authority (PPA) has issued guidance confirming that arbitration participants may use international video conferencing tools provided appropriate security measures are in place.

Electronic signatures on documents

Israeli law on electronic signatures is settled. Under the Electronic Signature Law, 5761-2001 (חוק חתימה אלקטרונית, תשס"א-2001), Section 3, an electronic signature has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature when it constitutes a "certified electronic signature." In practice, documents signed through DocuSign, Adobe Sign, or equivalent platforms that produce a certified signature are fully admissible in Israeli arbitral proceedings.

For witness statements and affidavits, the witness can sign electronically before a notary in their home country and transmit the apostilled document electronically. Israeli arbitrators routinely accept apostilled foreign notarial acts under the Hague Apostille Convention, to which Israel has been a party since 1978.

Document exchange and evidence

Under the ICCA Rules, all documents are exchanged electronically by default. The arbitral tribunal sets the document production schedule in the first procedural order. For large document sets, a shared data room — SharePoint, Dropbox Business, or a purpose-built legal data room — is standard. Evidence rules in Israeli arbitration are deliberately flexible: under Schedule Section 3 of the 1968 Act (and Article 19 of the ICA Law 2024), the arbitrator may admit or exclude evidence as they see appropriate, free from the strict rules of evidence that apply in Israeli court proceedings.

5. Award Enforceability After Virtual Proceedings

Awards from virtual proceedings are enforceable. The mode of hearing does not affect validity — what matters is whether due process was maintained throughout, not whether the parties were in the same room.

Registration with the Israeli District Court

Under Section 23 of the Arbitration Law, 1968 — or Section 53 of the ICA Law 2024 for international cases — an arbitral award must be confirmed by the District Court before it can be enforced in Israel. The application is filed at the District Court in whose jurisdiction the respondent's assets or place of business are located. Court fees for registration are approximately NIS 2,500-4,000 depending on the size of the claim. Once confirmed, the award has the full force of a court judgment.

Enforcement through the Execution Office

After registration, enforcement is handled by the Lishkat HaHotza'a LePoal (Execution Office), exactly as with any court judgment. To seize assets, attach a bank account, or garnish wages, a case must be opened with the relevant regional Execution Office. The filing fee for opening an execution file is currently NIS 1,242 (as of 2025; updated annually by the Ministry of Justice). From a registered award to the first enforcement action — typically a bank account freeze — usually takes 2-6 weeks.

Challenging an award on virtual process grounds

A party can theoretically challenge an award under Section 24(4) of the 1968 Act (or Article 34(2)(a)(ii) of the ICA Law 2024), arguing that virtual proceedings denied them a proper opportunity to present their case. In practice, Israeli courts consistently reject such challenges when the parties agreed to virtual proceedings in a procedural order, when the complaining party had reasonable access to the technology, or when no objection was raised during the arbitration itself. The Israel Supreme Court has affirmed in several cases under the 1968 Act that procedural objections not raised during proceedings cannot be revived to attack the award afterward.

International enforcement outside Israel

If the award needs enforcement outside Israel — in the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, or elsewhere — Israel's status as a signatory to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (1958) applies. Israel acceded to the Convention in 1959. Courts in major New York Convention jurisdictions have not treated virtual proceedings as a ground for refusing enforcement under Article V, provided due process standards were observed.

6. Practical Timeline and Costs

A fully virtual arbitration in Israel typically runs 12-24 months from first filing to award. Below is how the phases break down, with the specific deadlines and costs at each stage.

Phase 1 — Initiating the arbitration (Weeks 1-4)

1. File a Notice of Arbitration with ICCA (or directly with the agreed institution) electronically, including: the contract and arbitration clause, a brief description of the dispute, and the relief sought.
2. ICCA sends notice to the respondent. The respondent has 21 days to reply and nominate their arbitrator (in a three-member tribunal), or agree to a sole arbitrator.
3. Pay the administrative filing fee — from NIS 7,500 for smaller disputes; ICCA's fee schedule scales by claim amount.

Phase 2 — Constitution and preliminary hearing (Weeks 4-10)

4. The arbitral tribunal is constituted. All communication from this point is by email and through ICCA's case management portal.
5. Hold a virtual preliminary hearing (Zoom or Teams) — typically 60-90 minutes — to agree on the procedural timetable, document exchange schedule, witness and expert lists, and hearing format.
6. The tribunal issues Procedural Order No. 1, memorializing the virtual format, the chosen platform, and the overall timeline. Per ICCA Rules, the tribunal targets issuing this order within 30 days of constitution.

Phase 3 — Written submissions and evidence (Weeks 10-30)

7. Parties exchange written submissions and document bundles electronically via a shared data room.
8. Witness statements and expert reports are signed with certified electronic signatures and exchanged per the schedule in Procedural Order No. 1.
9. Document production requests are filed and decided by the tribunal in writing, without requiring a physical hearing.

Phase 4 — Main virtual hearing (typically 6-12 months from filing)

10. The main evidentiary hearing is held entirely by video conference — typically over 1-3 days, with each session running 6-8 hours. All participants join from their respective locations.
11. Sessions are recorded with the consent of all parties, and a transcript is produced by a professional court reporter attending virtually.
12. Post-hearing briefs are filed electronically within the agreed timeframe — typically 4-8 weeks after the hearing closes.

Phase 5 — Award and enforcement

13. The award is issued in writing. Under ICCA Rules 2022, the tribunal targets rendering the award within 18 months of the first procedural order, though complex cases may take longer.
14. The winning party applies to the relevant Israeli District Court to register the award (approximately NIS 2,500-4,000 in court fees).
15. Once registered, enforcement through the Execution Office begins — opening fee of NIS 1,242.