Class Actions Law: the section this site discusses

Related service: Received a motion to certify a class action

What the law provides

Section 3 of the Law allows a class action only in a claim listed in the Second Schedule to the Law, or in a matter in which an express statutory provision states that such a claim may be filed. Section 4 authorizes a person with a personal cause of action, a public authority, or an organization acting within its public purposes to file a motion to certify a class action on behalf of a group, when the matter raises material questions of fact or law common to all of them. A motion by an organization requires convincing the court that it is difficult for a person with a personal cause of action to file it; the Israel Consumer Council is exempt from this condition (section 4(a)(3)). In any case, before the claim proceeds as a class action, the court must certify it, and this certification depends, among other things, on finding that the efficient and fair way to decide the dispute is indeed to conduct the claim as a class action and not as an individual claim.

A class action has a power that an ordinary claim does not have: if it was certified and conducted to the end, the judgment, or the settlement agreement approved in it, binds everyone within the defined group, including those who were not actively aware of the proceeding. A person who does not want to be included in the group may notify the court within 45 days of the publication of the certification decision, or by a later date set by the court (section 11). A person who stays in the group is bound by the judgment (section 24).

A numerical example

A mobile phone company collected a monthly charge of NIS 9.90 from 40,000 subscribers for a year, without their express consent. The personal loss of each single subscriber (about NIS 119 a year) is too small to justify an individual claim in court. A class action allows all 40,000 subscribers to be joined in one claim, in which the total loss (about NIS 4.75 million) justifies conducting a full legal proceeding. This is exactly the purpose of the Law: to deal with losses that are “small but many”, which otherwise would not be claimed at all.

For a practical guide to filing a class action and to settlement agreements, see How to file a class action in Israel: conditions, steps and a self-check and Settlement agreement in a class action: what you need to know, and the pages Class actions and consumer claims and Consumer rights and consumer claims.

The sections the site discusses

This page brings together 1 section of the Class Actions Law that is discussed in 2 guides on this site. The title of each section is the marginal note of the consolidated version of the Law (unofficial translation), not a heading we wrote. The last column links to the guides on this site that discuss that section.

The original text of the law

• Class Actions Law, 5766-2006: text of the Law
• Class Actions Law: consolidated version on Nevo (Israeli legal database)

FAQ

Who can file a class action in Israel?
A person who has a personal cause of action in the matter, a public authority, or an organization acting within its public purposes. A motion by an organization requires convincing the court that it is difficult for a person with a personal cause of action to file it; the Israel Consumer Council is exempt from this condition (section 4(a)(3)).

In which matters can a class action be filed?
Only in a claim listed in the Second Schedule to the Law, or in a matter in which an express statutory provision states that a class action may be filed (section 3(a)). Among the items in the Schedule: a claim against a dealer (business) as defined in the Consumer Protection Law, 5741-1981, in a matter between the dealer and a customer (item 1); against an insurer, an insurance agent or a managing company (item 2); against a banking corporation (item 3); on a cause of action under the Economic Competition Law, 5748-1988 (חוק התחרות הכלכלית, התשמ״ח-1988) (item 4); in connection with an environmental hazard (item 6); on a cause of action of discrimination at work or under the Equal Pay (Female and Male Employees) Law, 5756-1996 (חוק שכר שווה לעובדת ולעובד, התשנ״ו-1996) (item 8); on a cause of action under the chapters of the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law, 5758-1998 that deal with employment, public transport services, and public places and public services (item 9); and against an authority, for the refund of a tax, fee or other compulsory payment that it collected unlawfully (item 11).

When does the court certify a claim as a class action?
The court may certify it if it finds that all of the following are met (section 8(a)): the claim raises material questions of fact or law common to all the class members, and there is a reasonable possibility that they will be decided in favor of the group; a class action is the efficient and fair way to decide the dispute in the circumstances of the case; and there are reasonable grounds to assume that the interests of all the class members will be represented and managed in an appropriate way and in good faith.

What happens to the class members who did not file the claim themselves?
If the claim was certified and conducted to the end, the judgment or settlement agreement binds everyone within the defined group, except those who notified the court that they are opting out of it (section 11), and as a rule they cannot file a separate personal claim on the same matter at the same time.

Why is a class action useful for small losses?
Because it gathers a loss that each injured person suffers separately into one claim, in which the total loss of the whole group justifies conducting a full legal proceeding, even when the personal loss of each individual is too small to justify a separate claim.

This page collects the references to legislation on the site. The section headings are the marginal notes as worded in the consolidated text of the law, and are not our interpretation. The binding text is the one published in Sefer HaHukim (the official gazette of statutes). The content here is general information and is not legal advice. Translated: 12 November 2026 · Hebrew version updated: 13 October 2026.