Associations Law, 5740-1980
חוק העמותות, תש"ם-1980
Published: 1980-08-12Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2026-03-12 · Last amended 2024-09-15✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-29
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Chapter V-A: Guidance, Supervision and Control
Assistance and guidance to associations in the management of their affairs§
39a.
The Registrar shall publish information and guidelines for associations, and shall, to the extent possible, gain an impression of their activities and conduct training sessions for them, all in order to assist them in managing their affairs in accordance with the provisions of the Law.
Authorisation of inspectors and supervisory powers§
39b.
(a)The Registrar may authorise, from among the employees of the Ministry of Justice who are subordinate to the Registrar, inspectors for the purpose of supervising the implementation of the provisions under this Law, provided that no person shall be appointed as an inspector unless all of the following conditions are satisfied in respect of that person:
(1)the person has not been convicted of an offence that, by reason of its nature, gravity or circumstances, renders the person, in the opinion of the Registrar, unfit to serve as an inspector;
(2)the person has received appropriate training in the area of the powers that will be vested in him or her under this Law, as directed by the Minister of Justice;
(3)the person meets additional eligibility conditions, as the Minister of Justice may direct.
(b)For the purpose of supervising the implementation of the provisions under this Law, the Registrar and an inspector may —
(1)require a person whom there is reasonable ground to believe is an employee of an association, an office holder therein or a person holding another position therein, and who is present at a place where the association operates or where there is reasonable ground to believe it operates, to provide his or her name and address and to present an identity card or other official document identifying that person; in this section, "office holder" means a member of the association's board, a member of the audit committee or the auditing body of the association, the internal auditor of the association, the director general of the association, his or her deputy, his or her substitute and any manager directly subordinate to him or her, and any person performing such a function in the association even if his or her title is different;
(2)enter, at any reasonable time, any place as referred to in paragraph (1), provided that the inspector shall not enter a place used for residential purposes except pursuant to a court order; the entry shall be carried out in the company of the person in charge of the place or that person's representative, however a refusal to accompany the inspector shall not prevent the inspector from carrying out his or her function; the exercise of the power under this paragraph shall be carried out in accordance with a supervision plan approved by the Registrar for this purpose;
(3)require an employee of the association, an office holder therein, a person holding another position therein, or any other person concerned in the matter, to provide any information or document in his or her possession, including output as defined in the Computers Law, 5755-1995, that may ensure or facilitate the implementation of the provisions under this Law or of the provisions of the association's articles or its objectives.
(c)The exercise of supervisory powers under this section shall be carried out in accordance with procedures to be prescribed by the Registrar, having regard to the special characteristics of the place and the activity carried out therein and to the recipients of the association's services.
(d)An inspector shall not exercise the powers vested in him or her under this section, except in the course of performing his or her function and to the extent necessary therefor, and provided that all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1)the inspector is visibly wearing a badge identifying him or her and his or her function;
(2)the inspector holds a certificate signed by the Registrar, attesting to his or her function and powers, which the inspector shall present upon request.
Engaging an external examiner, his or her powers and duties§
39c.
(a)For the purpose of examining an association's compliance with the provisions under this Law, with the provisions of its articles and with its objectives, the Registrar may engage an examiner, even if not a State employee (in this Law — an external examiner), who shall conduct examinations in accordance with a list of matters to be published by the Registrar on the Ministry of Justice's website (in this Chapter — examinations), and in the manner and at the frequency as directed by the Registrar.
(b)An external examiner shall act on behalf of the Registrar, in accordance with the Registrar's guidance and instructions and under the Registrar's supervision.
(c)The external examiner shall provide the association with a draft of his or her final report and shall notify the association of its right to submit its response within 30 days or within a longer period approved by the Registrar; the external examiner shall submit to the Registrar the final report, which shall include the findings of the examination, the association's response thereto and the examiner's recommendations; a copy of the report shall be delivered to the association.
(d)An external examiner shall not exercise a power that involves the exercise of discretion vested in the Registrar by law.
(e)A person who considers himself or herself aggrieved by an examination conducted by an external examiner, by the findings of the examination, by the examiner's recommendations or by any other action taken by the examiner, may submit a reasoned written application to the Registrar.
(f)The Registrar may, upon an application as referred to in subsection (e) or on the Registrar's own initiative, give an external examiner instructions regarding the conduct of examinations, review the findings of the examinations, conduct additional examinations personally, appoint another external examiner, or act in any other manner that the Registrar deems appropriate.
(g)An external examiner and any employee who performs examinations on the examiner's behalf under this section shall have the same status as State employees for the purposes of the provisions relating to public employees in the Penal Law, 5737-1977.
Approval to serve as an external examiner, its suspension and revocation§
39d.
(a)The Registrar may grant approval to serve as an external examiner to a person in whom all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1)the person is a resident of Israel who has attained the age of 25, or a corporation that was incorporated and registered in Israel, provided that there is no limitation on the liability of the shareholders or partners in the corporation;
(2)the person has not been convicted of a criminal offence as specified in section 226(a) of the Companies Law, 5759-1999, or of a criminal or disciplinary offence that, by reason of its nature, gravity or circumstances, renders the person unfit to receive approval to serve as an external examiner, and no indictment or disciplinary complaint has been filed against the person on suspicion of committing such offences, and if the person is a corporation — neither the corporation nor any office holder or controlling shareholder therein, nor any employee who will perform examinations on behalf of the corporation, has been convicted of such an offence or has had an indictment or disciplinary complaint filed against them on suspicion of committing such offences;
(3)the person, and if the person is a corporation — the corporation and any office holder or controlling shareholder therein, and any employee who will perform examinations on behalf of the corporation, are not liable to find themselves, directly or indirectly, in a position of conflict of interests between the performance of their function under this section and another personal interest or another function;
(4)the person has not been declared legally incompetent and no order for the opening of proceedings under the Economic Rehabilitation and Insolvency Law, 5778-2018 has been made in respect of the person so long as the person has not been discharged, and if the person is a corporation — no dissolution order or order for the opening of proceedings under that Law has been made in respect of the corporation;
(5)the person has appropriate expertise and experience.
(b)Engagement with an external examiner shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions under the Mandatory Tenders Law, 5752-1992.
(c)Approval to serve as an external examiner shall be for a period not exceeding three years; the Registrar may extend such approval for additional periods not exceeding three years each, provided that no person shall serve as an external examiner for a period exceeding eight consecutive years; notwithstanding the foregoing, the Registrar may extend the approval of an external examiner for an additional period not exceeding six months in order to complete an examination that the examiner commenced before the expiry of the approval period.
(d)An external examiner who ceases to satisfy one of the conditions listed in subsection (a) or in respect of whom a ground exists that prevents him or her from serving as an external examiner shall immediately notify the Registrar thereof.
(e)The Registrar may, on the Registrar's own initiative or upon a complaint submitted to the Registrar, revoke an approval to serve as an external examiner or suspend it for a period to be determined, after having given the external examiner an opportunity to present arguments, if the Registrar finds that the approval was granted on the basis of false or incorrect information, that one of the conditions listed in subsection (a) has been breached or has ceased to be satisfied, or that other circumstances exist by reason of which the person is not fit or suitable to serve as an external examiner.
(f)The Registrar shall publish on the Ministry of Justice's website the following:
(1)a list of external examiners holding valid approvals;
(2)the designated channels for contacting the Registrar for the purpose of investigating complaints against external examiners.
(g)The Minister of Justice may, with the approval of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset, prescribe provisions regarding the implementation of this section, including in respect of —
(1)the education, professional experience and training of external examiners;
(2)circumstances in which an external examiner shall be regarded as being in a position of conflict of interests;
(3)restrictions that shall apply to an external examiner after the examiner has ceased to serve as such.
Demand for information by an external examiner§
39e.
(a)An external examiner may require an association and any of the following persons to provide any information or document, including output as defined in the Computers Law, 5755-1995, relating to the affairs of the association, insofar as such information or document is in their possession, all as specified in the demand and by the date specified therein:
(1)members of the association;
(2)office holders in the association as defined in section 39b, excluding the internal auditor of the association;
(3)employees of the association;
(4)additional persons prescribed by the Minister of Justice, with the approval of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset, who have a connection to the activities of the association.
(b)Where the Registrar has reasonable ground to believe that an association has breached a provision of the provisions under this Law, the Registrar may instruct the external examiner to require information and documents as referred to in subsection (a) also from a person who, in the four years preceding the date of the demand, was one of those listed in paragraphs (1) to (3) of that subsection.
(c)An external examiner and any employee on the examiner's behalf shall keep confidential all information that came to their knowledge as a result of or in the course of performing their function, shall not make any use thereof and shall not disclose it to another, except to the extent necessary for the performance of their function.
(d)The Minister of Justice may, with the approval of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset, prescribe provisions regarding the implementation of this section, including in respect of the manner of storage of information and documents by an external examiner and the periods of their retention.
Report to the Knesset on the engagement of external examiners§
39f.
The Minister of Justice shall report to the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset, once every two years, on the implementation of the provisions of sections 39c to 39e.
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Contact Us →Chapter VI: Investigation of the Association's Functioning
Investigation of an association§
40.
(a)Where the Registrar has reasonable ground to believe that an association is not complying with the provisions under this Law or is not complying with the provisions of its articles or its objectives, the Registrar may, upon the application of one quarter of all the members of the association, upon the application of the audit committee or the auditing body, upon the application of the Attorney General, or on the Registrar's own initiative, decide to open an investigation into the affairs of that association, and the powers under sections 9 to 11 and 27(b) of the Commissions of Inquiry Law, 5729-1968 shall be vested in the Registrar or in an employee of the Ministry of Justice subordinate to the Registrar whom the Registrar has authorised for this purpose.
(b)For the purpose of conducting an investigation as referred to in subsection (a), the Registrar may appoint an external investigator; where an external investigator is appointed, the investigative powers shall be vested in that investigator and the provisions applicable to an investigator under this section shall apply to the external investigator, subject to the conditions of appointment.
(c)The Registrar may authorise as an investigator or appoint as an external investigator a person in whom all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1)the person has not been convicted of an offence that, by reason of its nature, gravity or circumstances, renders the person, in the opinion of the Registrar, unfit to serve as an investigator;
(2)the person has received appropriate training in the area of the powers that will be vested in him or her under this section, as directed by the Minister of Justice;
(3)the person meets additional eligibility conditions, as the Minister of Justice may direct.
(d)Notice of the summoning of a person to an investigation shall be delivered a reasonable time before the date of the investigation and shall include the following:
(1)the name of the association in whose affairs the investigation was opened, unless the Registrar has decided not to state it by reason of the needs of the investigation;
(2)the rights of the person summoned to the investigation, in plain and clear language.
(e)A person summoned to an investigation under this section shall answer the questions put to that person, however his or her answers shall not serve as evidence in criminal proceedings against that person.
(f)The investigator shall provide the association with a draft of the final report and shall notify the association of its right to submit its response within 30 days or within a longer period approved by the Registrar; the investigator shall submit to the Registrar the final report, which shall include the findings of the investigation, the association's response thereto and the investigator's recommendations; a copy of the report shall be delivered to the association.
(g)The costs of the investigation under this section shall be borne by the State Treasury; the Minister of Justice may, with the approval of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset, prescribe exceptional circumstances in which the Registrar may impose the costs of the investigation, in whole or in part, on the association, on the members of the board or on those who requested the investigation.
41.§
(Repealed — תשע״ד)
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