Doing Business with Israel
Practical telephone numbers (emergency services, police, firemen, information lines, etc.)
First Aid 101
Fire Department 102
Police 100
Information line 144
Important web links and contacts
Government:
Czech Embassy in Tel Aviv – https://www.mzv.cz/telaviv/cz/index.html
Embassy of the State of Israel in Prague – https://embassies.gov.il/praha
Government portal – https://www.gov.il/en
Office of the Prime Minister – https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/prime_ministers_office
Israel Customs Tariff – https://www.gov.il/en/departments/israel_tax_authority
Ministry of Economy and Trade – http://www.economy.gov.il/English
Database, statistics
Dun & Bradstreet Israel – Business Database https://www.dbisrael.co.il/en
Central Bureau of Statistics https://www.cbs.gov.il/EN
Banking, insurance, stock exchange
Leumi Bank http://english.leumi.co.il
Bank Hapoalim http://www.bankhapoalim.com
Mizrahi Tefahot Bank https://www.mizrahi-tefahot.co.il/en
Discount Bank https://www.discountbank.co.il/DB/en
First International Bank https://online.fibi.co.il/wps/portal/FibiMenu/HomeEN
Mercantile Bank https://www.mercantile.co.il/MB/en
Migdal Insurance https://www.migdal.co.il/en
Harel Insurance Company http://www.harel-group.co.il
Stock Exchange https://www.tase.co.il/en
Tenders and their main announcers
Tender portal https://www.lapam.gov.il/?lang=en
Israel Electric Corporation https://www.iec.co.il/en/ir/pages/default.aspx
Israel Ports Authority http://www.israports.org.il/en
Israel Railways https://www.rail.co.il/en
Bezeq Telecommunication Company http://www.bezeq.co.il
Exhibitions and trade fair activities
Tel Aviv Fair Grounds https://expotelaviv.co.il/
Stier – a major organizer of exhibitions and fairs https://www.stier.co.il/en
Economic press and web news
Globes https://en.globes.co.il/en
The Marker http://www.themarker.co.il
Israel Economic Intelligence http://www.i-biz.co.il
The Jerusalem Post https://www.jpost.com/
Times of Israel https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Haaretz newspaper https://www.haaretz.com/
Yediot Achronot https://www.ynetnews.com/category/3083
More information
Corporate Yellow Pages https://www.d.co.il
Description of cultural differences in business practice
http://www.israelmarketing.com/doingbusiness.html
Israel-Czech Chamber of Commerce and Industry
23 Efal St. Prisma Building
POB 3286
Petah Tikva, Israel 49511
Phone: +972 3 924 92 16
Fax: +972 3 546 63 19
Website: https://www.iccci.org.il/
Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Jerusalem10, Halel St.
Fax: +972 2 625 4335
PO Box 2083 Jerusalem 91020
Phone: +972 2 625 4333/4
Email: [email protected]
Czech-Israeli Mixed Chamber of Commerce (ČISOK)
Blaník Palace Wenceslas Square 56
113 26 Prague 1
Tel.: 224 032 161
Website: https://www.cisok.cz
Investment Promotion Center
5 Bank of Israel Street
Jerusalem 91036
Israel
Phone: +972 2 6662607 Fax: +972 2 666-2938
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.investinisrael.gov.il
Manufacturers Association of Israel (MAI)
Industry House 29, Hamered Str.
PO Box 50022 Tel Aviv 6150001 Israel
Phone: +972 3 519 8856
Website: http://www.industry.org.il
Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce (FICC)
84, Hahashmonaim St. PO Box 20027 Tel Aviv 61200
Phone: +972 3 563 1020 Fax: +972 3 561 9027
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.chamber.org.il/en/
Israel Institute for Export and International Cooperation
Industry House
29, Hamered St. PO Box 50084 Tel Aviv 6812511 Israel
Phone: +972 3 514 2830
Website: https://www.export.gov.il/en
The Ten Commandments for Doing Business with Israel
The PaulSourcing agency has prepared ten recommendations for doing business with Israel for Czech entrepreneurs interested in business relations with Israel.
- Choose a good partner For those interested in exporting to Israel, it is reasonable to try to find a local partner who knows the market, customs and language well. Establishing your own branch is usually not economically justified and realistic for most suppliers. The local partner can have the position of either a sales agent on a commission basis or a distributor trading on its own account.
- Take your time with exclusivity It is common for local representatives to insist on exclusivity. To begin with, we can recommend exclusivity limited in time and conditional on the turnover achieved. Partners will certainly resist this at first, but the negotiations are worth it.
- Use English or Russian If you are not going to do business in Israel personally, you do not need to learn Hebrew. Most partners will speak English very well; some of them (due to their origin) also speak Russian, which can be a certain advantage for us.
- Defend price and quality In general, the price factor always plays a significant role in negotiations, together with quality, delivery time, after-sales service, reliability of the supplier and his references. The Israeli market is highly competitive, at the same time there is still a tendency to somewhat underestimate the quality of products from our part of Europe compared to Western European or American competition.
- Expect to be straight-talking Israelis can be very tough in business negotiations and usually speak their minds. They also understand literally what you say. Their behavior can sometimes seem impolite. If you adapt to it and don’t let yourself get carried away, you will be their equal partner. It is always advisable to confirm the results of the meeting in writing.
- Forget additional haggling Unlike Arab traders, the Israeli offer is often final with no room for further bargaining. Enforcement of additional price adjustments or changes in payment terms are practically impossible.
- Don’t expect much flexibility It is important to observe the normal standards of business negotiations, such as the ability to establish personal relationships with partners, personal presence at important meetings, flexibility and dynamism of negotiations. On the contrary, flexibility is not a strong point of the Israeli counterparts – you have to prepare for the fact that in many cases they insist on their terms until the end.
- Respect the free Saturday The normal working hours of commercial companies are on Sunday – Thursday 8:00 – 16:00, on Friday 8:00 – 13:00 (if they work on Friday). State offices are open Sunday – Thursday 7:30 – 16:00 and are closed on Friday and Saturday. This restriction must be taken into account when arranging meetings, on the other hand, you can work on Sundays. When it comes to Saturdays, we prefer not to even call our business partners – unless we know them well – it can be taken as impoliteness.
- Tolerate informal clothing It is recommended to confirm the business meeting in advance by phone. Israelis often go to business meetings, especially in the summer, in casual clothes – without jacket and tie, in sandals.
- Prepare for a diverse society It is necessary to keep in mind the enormous diversity of Israeli society in terms of area of origin (old settlers, USA, Europe, former USSR, Arab countries, Africa) and cultural-social aspects. All these factors influence the attitude and behavior of various groups within Israeli society, including entrepreneurs.
