How to obtain a driver’s license in Israel, and is a foreign driver’s license valid in the country? Is it necessary to retake the exams?
Since August 2017, the confirmation of driver’s licenses in Israel has been simplified. Previously, new repatriates with driver’s licenses from their country of origin were allowed to drive in Israel for one year, but within three years they were required to pass a driving test to obtain Israeli licenses.
Now all new repatriates who have arrived in Israel and have valid foreign licenses, with a driving experience of 5 or more years, can obtain an Israeli category B license without taking a test.
However, if you want to confirm category A, you will need to take a driving test, or you may be offered to issue a category A1 license, which is not always pleasing to motorcyclists. Such re-issuance of licenses is only possible in the regional centers of the Ministry of Transport.
New Israelis can drive in Israel with their country of origin’s licenses for 1 year, and they have 5 years from the moment of making Aliyah to replace them.
To obtain a license to operate passenger and freight vehicles, a repatriate will need to take a training course and pass exams. The exam is conducted in Hebrew, but the Ministry of Absorption may provide an interpreter.
For confirming a driver’s license in Israel, a new repatriate needs to:
– Fill out an online form on the government portal and schedule an appointment at the Ministry of Transport through the new government portal GoVisit. Here all services for issuing, replacing, reissuing licenses, and other types of services are available.
– Undergo an eye test and get photographed at a special optician’s office, addresses and working hours are listed on the portal.
– Personally visit the Ministry of Transport, by appointment. For this, you also need to provide a Teudat Ole, an Israeli ID card (Teudat Zehut), a driver’s license from the country of origin, and sometimes, if required, its notarially certified translation into Hebrew, done by a licensed Israeli notary.
– Receive temporary driver’s licenses at the Ministry of Transport office, which will be valid for six months from the date of payment.
– Pay the fee, which currently amounts to 550 shekels. The fee can be paid online on the portal or at a post office (don’t forget to schedule an appointment).
– Approximately within one to two months, the permanent driver’s license will be delivered to the address registered in the identity card, or to the mailing address if it is listed in the Ministry of Interior’s database as the correspondence delivery address. There are paid options for expedited production and delivery of driver’s licenses (completely legal, according to the rates and conditions on the site הזמנת רישיון מהיום למחר – רישיון מהיר (fastdl.co.il)).
– Such licenses are issued until the citizen reaches the age of 70.
It is important to note that it is not possible to confirm the license if:
– The driver’s license from the country of origin is lost, damaged, or expired.
– The driving experience is less than 5 years.
– There is no Teudat Ole (certificate of a new repatriate).
If the license is being reissued not by a citizen, but by a holder of a residence permit (visa A5), then the license is issued not until the age of 70, but until the current visa expires, usually this is 1-2 years.
The reissuance of Israeli driver’s licenses, which are about to expire, is done through the government services portal. It is necessary to fill out a form and pay a fee, there is no need to go through the entire process from the beginning.
