# Israeli Company Lookup

> Look up Israeli company information and understand business entity types. Use when user asks about Israeli companies, "chevra", business registration, "Rasham HaChevarot", company numbers, entity types, or needs to register a business in Israel. Covers Ltd companies, partnerships, non-profits (amuta), cooperatives, and sole proprietors. Do NOT use for non-Israeli corporate registries or stock market analysis.

- Skill: `skills-il/israeli-company-lookup` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 8 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add skills-il/israeli-company-lookup`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/skills-il/israeli-company-lookup/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- License: MIT
- Author: skills-il (https://skillmd.com/u/skills-il)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/skills-il/israeli-company-lookup

---


# Israeli Company Lookup

## Instructions

### Step 1: Identify the Need
| Request | Approach |
|---------|----------|
| Look up existing company | Search by name/number at Rasham |
| Choose entity type | Compare types by liability, tax, complexity |
| Register new business | Step-by-step guide per entity type |
| Due diligence check | Verify status, directors, filings |

### Step 2: Company Search
Search the Israel Corporations Authority (rashut hatagidim):
- URL: `https://ica.justice.gov.il/GenericCorporarionInfo/SearchCorporation?unit=8`
- Search by: Company name (Hebrew or English) or company number
- Free basic info: company number, name, type, limited/unlimited, legal status, registered address, purpose, annual-fee debts, and whether the company has been declared "in breach of law" (mufrat hok)
- Paid full extract (nesach chevra): submit at `https://ica.justice.gov.il/Request/OpenRequest?rt=CompanyExtract`. The fee is stated on the request form itself (it changes annually, so we do not reproduce it here)
- For amutot (NPOs) and CHL"Tz, use GuideStar instead: `https://www.guidestar.org.il` (free; consolidated Ministry of Justice portal)
- For partnerships (shutfut), use `https://ica.justice.gov.il/Request/OpenRequest?rt=PartnershipExtract`
- Status values (2026): pe'ila (active), be-piruq (in liquidation), nimekhqa (struck off), mufrat hok (in breach of law -- e.g. unpaid annual fees, missing reports)

### Step 2b: Programmatic Lookup (the route an agent can actually execute)
The ICA search page in Step 2 is a human web form. For an agent, use the Ministry of Justice's
open registrar dump on data.gov.il instead. It is free, needs no key, and covers every registered
company, not only the one you can type into a form.

- Dataset metadata: `https://data.gov.il/api/3/action/package_show?id=ica_companies`
- Companies resource id: `f004176c-b85f-4542-8901-7b3176f9a054`
- Free-text search:
  `https://data.gov.il/api/3/action/datastore_search?resource_id=f004176c-b85f-4542-8901-7b3176f9a054&q=MONDAY.COM&limit=5`
- Exact lookup by company number (URL-encode the Hebrew field name):
  `https://data.gov.il/api/3/action/datastore_search?resource_id=f004176c-b85f-4542-8901-7b3176f9a054&filters={"מספר חברה":514744887}`

Fields worth reading on each record: `מספר חברה` (company number), `שם חברה` (Hebrew name),
`שם באנגלית` (English name, often populated), `סוג תאגיד` (private / public / foreign),
`סטטוס חברה` (status), `מפרה` (breach flag), `שנה אחרונה של דוח שנתי (שהוגש)` (last filed annual
report year -- a stale year is a red flag even before the company is formally flagged), and the
registered-address fields.

Confirm you are reading real data, not an error page: a successful response is JSON with
`"success": true` and a non-empty `records` array. A wrong or non-existent `resource_id` on this
host returns an S3 `AccessDenied` XML body with HTTP 403, and the human-facing
`data.gov.il/dataset/...` pages are bot-protected, so never judge this API by an HTTP status
alone. Read the body.

Two limits a due-diligence user must know: this resource is the COMPANIES register only, so
partnerships (55-), amutot (58-) and cooperatives (57-) are not in it and still need their own
registry from Step 2. And the dump is a periodic snapshot, not the live register, so for any
legally operative decision (signing, lending, litigating) confirm the status on the official ICA
search or a paid extract rather than relying on the dataset alone.

### Step 3: Entity Type Comparison
| Factor | Chevra Baam (Ltd) | Osek Morsheh | Amuta |
|--------|-------------------|-------------|-------|
| Liability | Limited to investment | Personal, unlimited | Limited |
| Tax | Corporate rate ~23% | Personal brackets | Exempt (conditions) |
| Registration | Rasham, approximately 2,559 NIS online or 3,123 NIS paper (2026; verify at ica.justice.gov.il) | Tax Authority, free | Rasham HaAmutot |
| Annual filing | Yes (financial statements) | Tax returns only | Yes (report to Rasham) |
| Minimum directors | 1 | N/A | 2 board members |
| Best for | Companies, startups | Freelancers, small biz | Non-profits, social |

### Step 4: Registration Steps (Chevra Baam -- most common)
1. Choose unique company name (check availability at Rasham)
2. Draft Articles of Association (takanon)
3. File incorporation documents at Rasham HaChevarot
4. Pay registration fee (approximately 2,559 NIS online or 3,123 NIS paper (2026; verify at ica.justice.gov.il))
5. Receive Certificate of Incorporation (teuda le-hitaagdut)
6. Register with Tax Authority for income tax and VAT
7. Open business bank account with incorporation certificate
8. Register with Bituach Leumi as employer (if hiring)

## Examples

### Example 1: Company Lookup
User says: "Look up the company Monday.com"
Result: monday.com Ltd (registrar Hebrew name "מנדיי. קום בע"מ"), Company No. 514744887, Status: Active (pe'ila), Type: Israeli public company, incorporated 13/03/2012, registered at Yitzhak Sadeh 6, Tel Aviv-Yafo. Verified via the open registrar dataset in Step 2b, not from memory: company numbers are the single most fabrication-prone field in this domain, so always resolve one before quoting it.

### Example 2: Choose Entity Type
User says: "I'm a freelance developer, what business structure should I use?"
Result: Compare Osek Morsheh (simplest) vs. Chevra Baam (limited liability). Recommend Osek Morsheh for starting, switch to Chevra Baam when annual revenue exceeds ~400K NIS or liability protection needed.

### Example 3: Compare Entity Types
User says: "I'm starting a business in Israel, should I register as an Osek Murshe or a Chevra?"
Actions:
1. Compare entity types (Osek Patur, Osek Murshe, Ltd company) by criteria -- tax rates, liability, NI contributions, compliance burden, VAT obligations
Result: Side-by-side comparison table with recommendation based on expected annual turnover.

## Bundled Resources

### Scripts
- `scripts/search_company.py` - Display Israeli business entity types (Chevra Baam, Osek Morsheh, Amuta, etc.) with side-by-side comparison of liability, tax rates, and registration requirements, plus step-by-step Chevra Baam incorporation instructions. Supports subcommands: `entity-types`, `compare`, `registration-steps`. Run: `python scripts/search_company.py --help`

### References
- `references/entity-types.md` - Comprehensive table of all 8 Israeli business entity types with their registries, liability structures, tax rates, and company number format prefixes (51- for companies, 58- for non-profits, 55- for partnerships). Consult when advising users on entity type selection or interpreting company registration numbers.
- `references/domain-checklist.md` - Coverage contract for this skill: which registries, statuses, fees and identifiers a complete Israeli entity lookup must handle, and what is explicitly out of scope (credit scoring, litigation history, foreign registries).

## Gotchas
- Israeli company registration numbers (mispar chevra) are 9 digits, not the same as the tax ID (mispar osek). Agents may confuse these two identifiers or use one when the other is required.
- The registrar stores a Hebrew name for every company and an English name for many of them (field `שם באנגלית` in the open dataset), but the English field is inconsistently populated and often spelled differently from the trading name. An English-only search can therefore return nothing for a company that exists. Search the Hebrew name or the company number before concluding a company is not registered.
- Company status in the registrar has four values: "active" (pe'ila), "in liquidation" (be-piruq), "struck off" (nimekhqa), and "in breach of law" (mufrat hok). Agents that only check for "active" miss the "in breach" case, which is common (unpaid annual fees, late reports) and is a significant due-diligence red flag.
- Israeli business types include Chevra Baam (Ltd.), Shutafut (Partnership), Amuta (NPO), and Aguda Shitufit (Cooperative). Each has different registration systems. Agents may search for a partnership in the company registrar, which only lists Ltd. companies.
- Amutot and CHL"Tz (Public-Benefit Companies) live on GuideStar (`guidestar.org.il`), the Ministry of Justice's consolidated NPO portal -- not on the main `ica.justice.gov.il` search. Both extracts are free.
- Israel's UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner) registry is NOT yet operational. A Ministry of Justice memorandum was published for public consultation on 2025-06-26 (consultation closed 2025-07-17); the law is still pre-enactment as of August 2026, and when enacted the registry will NOT be publicly accessible (regulated entities and authorities only). Do not promise public UBO lookup until enactment + a public-access tier exists.
- "Apotropos Klali" (Official Receiver) was renamed to "ha-memuneh al chadlut pira'on ve-shikum kalkali" (Insolvency and Economic Rehabilitation Commissioner) when the Insolvency and Economic Rehabilitation Law 2018 took effect on 2019-09-15. For cases opened on or after that date, the searchable docket lives at `insolvency.justice.gov.il/poshtim/main/tikim/wfrmlisttikim.aspx`. Older "psikat regel" files predating 2019 are still under the legacy Apotropos Klali system.

## Reference Links

| Source | URL | What to Check |
|--------|-----|---------------|
| Companies Registrar (ICA / rashut hatagidim) | https://ica.justice.gov.il | Company search, status, filings, ownership |
| Free company snapshot | https://www.gov.il/en/service/company_extract | Basic info free; full extract paid (fee shown on the request form) |
| GuideStar (Amutot + CHL"Tz) | https://www.guidestar.org.il | Consolidated MoJ portal for NPOs and public-benefit companies. Free extracts |
| Partnership extract | https://ica.justice.gov.il/Request/OpenRequest?rt=PartnershipExtract | Nesach shutfut from Rasham HaShutfuyot |
| data.gov.il - ica_companies | https://data.gov.il/dataset/ica_companies | Bulk dump of companies registrar (CKAN API available) |
| Reshumot - Yalkut HaPirsumim | https://www.gov.il/he/Departments/DynamicCollectors/gazette-official | Official gazette: liquidation notices, dissolution petitions, creditor calls |
| Insolvency Commissioner (post-2019 cases) | https://insolvency.justice.gov.il/poshtim/main/tikim/wfrmlisttikim.aspx | Searchable case list under Insolvency and Economic Rehabilitation Law 2018 |
| Apotropos Klali (legacy pre-2019 files + general guardianship) | https://www.gov.il/he/departments/agor_ministry_of_justice | Older psikat regel files, kintus nechasim |
| Israel Tax Authority | https://www.gov.il/he/departments/israel_tax_authority | Verify business TIN (mispar osek) separately |
| NBCTF sanctions designations | https://nbctf.mod.gov.il/en/Minister%20Sanctions/Designation/Pages/downloads.aspx | Counter-Terrorism Law 2016 designations of sanctioned individuals and entities. Critical for due-diligence on Israeli counterparties post-Iron-Swords. |
| Israel Securities Authority (ISA) licensed entities | https://www.isa.gov.il | Portfolio managers, investment advisors, marketers (public licensed list) |
| Capital Market Authority (CMA) registries | https://www.gov.il/he/departments/units/department_cma | Licensed insurers, pension funds, kupot gemel, investment houses |

## Troubleshooting

### Error: "Company not found"
Cause: Name spelling mismatch or company registered under different name
Solution: Try Hebrew name, or search by company number if available. Some companies register with English names different from their trading name.

### Error: "Company number format invalid"
Cause: Israeli company numbers (Chevra) are 9 digits; sole proprietor numbers match their TZ (ID); partnership and amuta numbers differ
Solution: Verify the entity type first. Companies: 51-XXXXXXX (9 digits), Amutot: 58-XXXXXXX, Partnerships: 55-XXXXXXX. Use the Rasham HaChevarot search to validate.

### Error: "Entity type confusion (Osek Patur vs Osek Morsheh)"
Cause: Users confuse tax registration types with company registration types
Solution: Osek Patur/Morsheh are VAT registration types at the Tax Authority (SHAAM), not company types at the Registrar of Companies. A person can be an Osek Morsheh without registering a company. Clarify the user's actual need: business entity lookup vs. tax registration status.

### Error: "Cannot find the amuta on ica.justice.gov.il"
Cause: Amutot and CHL"Tz are not in the main companies database
Solution: Search on GuideStar (`https://www.guidestar.org.il`) instead. It is the Ministry of Justice's consolidated portal for amutot and public-benefit companies. Basic extract is free.

### Error: "User asks for beneficial owner / UBO lookup"
Cause: User assumes Israel has a public UBO registry (similar to UK Companies House PSC register)
Solution: As of August 2026, Israel has NO operational UBO registry. The MoJ memorandum was published 2025-06-26 for public comment (closed 2025-07-17); the law is still pre-enactment and, when enacted, the registry will NOT be publicly accessible. For now, the closest signals are: directors and shareholders listed on a paid full company extract, the company's filed annual report (dorech shanati), and (for public companies only) ISA disclosures on Maya at `maya.tase.co.il`.