AI regulation in Israel: laws & policy (2026)
AI in Israel: guidelines only.
Israel has deliberately chosen a soft-law, sector-based approach to AI governance rather than enacting a comprehensive statute. The core instrument is the December 2023 'Responsible Innovation' policy, which sets principles (fairness, human oversight, explainability, accountability, safety, privacy, disclosure) and tasks each sectoral regulator with risk-based rulemaking in its own domain. Binding rules currently come from existing laws applied to AI — most actively via the Privacy Protection Authority's April 2025 draft AI guidance — alongside the April 2025 National AI Program focused on compute, talent and research.
Legal framework
Non-binding 'Policy on Artificial Intelligence Regulation and Ethics' (Dec 2023) issued by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (MIST) with the Ministry of Justice, implemented via sectoral regulators and existing horizontal laws (notably the Privacy Protection Law). No comprehensive AI Act is in force.
Key points: artificial intelligence in Israel
2023 'Responsible Innovation' AI policy
In December 2023, MIST and the Ministry of Justice jointly published Israel's first national AI policy, 'Policy, Regulation and Ethics Principles in the Field of Artificial Intelligence'. It is explicitly a strategic, non-binding document that identifies seven core risks (discrimination, human oversight, explainability, disclosure, safety, accountability, privacy) and endorses sectoral, risk-based regulation plus soft tools (sandboxes, voluntary guidance) rather than a horizontal AI Act.
Sectoral, non-horizontal approach
Rather than a single AI law, each sectoral regulator (finance, health, transport, etc.) is responsible for applying principles to AI in its domain. An interdepartmental team's 2024 interim report developed a flexible, experimentation-friendly regulatory approach for AI in financial services, consistent with the 2023 white paper.
Privacy Protection Authority draft AI guidelines (2025)
On 30 April 2025 the Privacy Protection Authority (PPA) issued draft guidance applying the Privacy Protection Law to AI systems, with the public comment window extended to 6 July 2025. It requires a legal basis for personal-data processing across the full AI lifecycle, limits web scraping of personal data for training to cases of implied consent, mandates defences against inference/model-extraction attacks, and extends data-subject rights to AI-generated data. If finalised it would be Israel's first authoritative AI-specific regulatory instrument.
National AI Program (April 2025)
In April 2025 the government approved a National AI Program spearheaded by the National AI Directorate within MIST. It focuses on compute (≈5,000 advanced GPUs/year 2027–2032, a 100,000-unit sovereign compute target), talent and expatriate recruitment, applied acceleration centres, and international AI partnerships. Earlier Decision 173 authorised a multi-year framework of up to NIS 500 million for 2023–2026 for AI research infrastructure, Hebrew/Arabic datasets and privacy/explainability R&D.
No comprehensive AI law in force or imminent
Israel has not enacted an EU-AI-Act-style horizontal law and such legislation is not expected within the next ~12 months; practitioners describe the pipeline as more soft regulation and sector guidance. Isolated bills (e.g. on deepfakes) have been proposed in the Knesset but none has become law.
Proposed AI Policy Coordination Centre
The 2023 policy and subsequent government decisions provide for an AI Policy Coordination Centre within MIST, operated jointly with the Ministry of Justice, to consolidate expertise, issue guidance to sectoral regulators and coordinate cross-cutting AI issues — a centralising mechanism within an otherwise decentralised, sectoral model.
Timeline of decisions
- GuidancePrivacy Protection Authority publishes draft AI guidance
Israel's first regulator-issued AI guidance applies the Privacy Protection Law to AI systems, stating that scraping personal data to train models without informed consent is unlawful and setting expectations on transparency, consent, accountability and platform anti-scraping duties.
Gornitzky (summary of PPA draft)
- Law · officialIsrael signs Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI
Israel signed the first binding international treaty on AI, human rights, democracy and the rule of law on the day it opened for signature, having helped shape it as an observer state, anchoring its framework to international standards.
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Decision · officialSecond phase of National AI Program launched
Israel committed roughly NIS 500 million (~$133M) to Phase 2 (running to 2027) for R&D infrastructure, a National AI Research Institute and compute capacity, deepening the state's investment-led approach to AI competitiveness.
Israel Innovation Authority
- Guidance · officialIsrael adopts national 'Responsible Innovation' AI policy
The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology with the Ministry of Justice issued Israel's official AI policy, favoring a sector-specific, risk-based, soft-law approach (ethical principles, voluntary standards, sandboxes) coordinated by a planned national AI policy center rather than a single binding statute.
Government of Israel (gov.il)
- GuidanceAI regulation and ethics white paper opened for consultation
MIST published a white paper for public comment proposing six AI ethics principles (responsible innovation, human-centricity, equality, transparency, robustness, accountability) and a decentralized, OECD-aligned, sector-led governance model, the blueprint for the 2023 policy.
White & Case (AI Watch)
- GuidanceIDF unveils military AI strategy and centralized AI unit
Israel's armed forces adopted a cross-branch AI strategy and established a centralized AI department as part of a digital transformation, reflecting how defense and national-security AI sit largely outside the civilian regulatory framework.
C4ISRNET / Defense News
- Decision · officialNational Program for Artificial Intelligence established
Israel rolled out its multi-billion-shekel National AI Program (~NIS 5.3B planned) to build compute infrastructure, research capacity and talent, setting an innovation-and-investment foundation that long preceded any dedicated AI statute.
OECD.AI
Sources
- gov.il/BlobFolder/policy/ai_2023/en/Israels%20AI%20Policy%202023.pdf
- gov.il/BlobFolder/news/most-news20250422/he/translated-ai-report%20-final.pd
- innovationisrael.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AI-National-Program-en-14.5.25.pdf
- pearlcohen.com/israel-new-draft-guidelines-on-the-application-of-privacy-law-to-ai/
- arnontl.com/news/israeli-privacy-authority-extends-period-for-comment-on-draft-gu
- whitecase.com/insight-our-thinking/ai-watch-global-regulatory-tracker-israel
- lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=7950a4ec-9730-4964-92ce-c24e4b4bbe5d
- iapp.org/news/a/proactive-caution-israels-approach-to-ai-regulation
- legal500.com/guides/wp-content/uploads/sites/1/2026/08/Israel-AI.pdf
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