Are the shareholders and directors of an Israeli company public?
Every private company in Israel is entered on the register maintained by the Registrar of Companies within the Corporations Authority. The register is open by design, so counterparties, creditors, and regulators can verify who stands behind a company before dealing with it. The recorded details include the company number, its Hebrew and English names, the registered address, current status, the directors, and the shareholders of record together with the number of shares each holds. Anyone can pull an official extract (nsach chevra or tamtzit rishum) online for a modest fee. Changes to directors or share transfers are reported to the Registrar and update the public picture.
For a foreign owner, this means your name as a direct director or shareholder can be found by anyone who searches. A common privacy structure is to hold the operating company through a holding company or a registered trustee (ne'eman), so the register shows the entity rather than the individual. That said, anti-money-laundering and beneficial-ownership rules increasingly require the ultimate individual to be disclosed to banks and the authorities, so it screens the public record rather than the regulator. Importantly, the register reflects registered shareholders only. A private shareholders' agreement and any side arrangements are not filed and stay confidential.
- Governing law: Companies Law 5759-1999; public company register
- Competent authority: Registrar of Companies (Rasham HaChevrot), within the Corporations Authority (Rashut HaTagidim)
- Public data: company number, name, address, status, directors, and registered shareholders
- Company extract: available to anyone for approximately NIS 10 online (2026)
- Privacy option: holding through a corporate entity or registered trustee; beneficial ownership still disclosed to banks and regulators
- Confidential: shareholders' agreements and side letters are not filed with the Registrar
From the full guide: How to Form a Company in Israel: Legal Guide for Foreign Entrepreneurs
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