Can an Israeli employer hold a foreign worker's passport?

Holding a worker's passport is one of the clearest markers of an abusive employment arrangement, and Israeli law treats it as such. A passport belongs to the worker and, ultimately, to the issuing state, not to the employer. Taking it restricts the worker's freedom of movement and their ability to leave a bad job, which is why Israeli courts anchor the prohibition in the constitutional protection of liberty and dignity under Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. The Foreign Workers Law 5751-1991 and its regulations build a protective regime around migrant employees, including duties to provide a written contract, proper pay, and lawful conditions, and passport confiscation runs against the whole scheme. An employer who says it is holding the document "for safekeeping" is on the wrong side of the law unless the worker genuinely asked for that and can retrieve it at any moment.

A foreign worker in this position has practical remedies. The passport must be handed back on request, and refusal can be challenged before the Labor Court, which can order its return and award compensation for the violation of the worker's rights. Complaints can also be made to the enforcement arm of the Population and Immigration Authority and to the Ombudsman for Foreign Workers' Rights at the Ministry of Labor. Because withholding the passport is often paired with other breaches, such as unpaid wages or unlawful deductions from salary, it is worth documenting the full picture: dates, messages, and any threat made to keep the worker in place. Migrant workers hold these rights regardless of visa category, and a lawful employer will never need to hold your travel document to secure your work.

From the full guide: Employment Law in Israel: A Guide for Foreign Nationals

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