Can someone sign an Israeli will on your behalf under a power of attorney?

Israeli succession law separates two kinds of authority. Section 28(a) states that a will is made by the testator personally, and Section 28(b) voids any provision directing someone else to determine the heir or the bequest. Courts read this strictly, so both the intention and the act of execution must be the testator’s own. Section 18 lists the four valid forms, and each one assumes a living, competent testator acting in person: handwritten, witnessed before two witnesses, made before an authority, or the oral deathbed will. That is also why an enduring power of attorney under the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law 5722-1962 covers property and medical decisions but never the making of a will.

For families spread across several countries, the practical consequence is timing. A relative whose capacity is fading cannot have a will drafted in Israel and executed there by an agent, and a broadly worded power of attorney signed abroad changes nothing. Israeli law does offer routes for a testator who cannot travel or cannot physically sign, but each keeps the act personal. A will made before an authority under Section 22 can be dictated to an Israeli consul abroad, who records it, reads it back, and certifies the testator’s confirmation. Where capacity is already questionable, obtaining a physician’s opinion dated the day of signing is the single most useful precaution, because most later challenges attack capacity rather than form.

From the full guide: Israeli Will Requirements: How to Write a Valid Will in Israel

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