Economic Plan Law (Legislative Amendments for the Implementation of the Economic Policy for the Budget Years 2017 and 2018), 5777-2016

Chapter I: Purpose of the Law

Chapter II: Regulation of the Cosmetics Sector

Chapter III: Local Authorities

Chapter IV: Shared Ride Service

Chapter V: Energy

Chapter VI: Business Licensing

Chapter VII: Water and Sewerage

Chapter VIII: Communications

Chapter IX: Promotion of Competition in Retail Credit

Chapter X: Removal of Barriers to the Implementation of National Infrastructure Projects

Chapter XI: Planning and Building

Chapter XII: Standardisation

Chapter XIII: Miscellaneous

Chapter XIV: Commencement

This Law comes to amend various laws with the aim of strengthening growth in the economy, increasing the level of competition therein, reducing the cost of living in Israel and narrowing the economic inequality existing in the economy, all in accordance with the budget targets and economic policy for the years 2017 and 2018.

Chapters II to IX, part of Chapter X, and Chapters XI to XIII contain indirect legislative amendments. The full text may be viewed on the site under "Reshumot (Official Gazette) – Sefer HaHukim (Book of Laws)". Attention should be paid to later amendments that may be made to some of these sections.

In this Section –

"distribution licence holder" – as defined in the Natural Gas Sector Law;

"infrastructure holder" – any of the following:

"communications infrastructure holder" – a holder of a Bezeq licence to whom powers have been granted pursuant to section 4(f) of the Communications Law (Bezeq and Broadcasting), 5742-1982, or a person registered in the register as defined in that Law to whom powers have been granted pursuant to the said section as applied in section 4a1(h) of the said Law;

"non-public infrastructure body" –

"operating entity" – as defined in the Oil Pipeline and Storage Infrastructure (Operating Entity) Law, 5777-2017;

"Natural Gas Sector Law" – the Natural Gas Sector Law, 5762-2002;

"national infrastructure project" – a project that the Government has decided is a national infrastructure project, provided that the estimated cost of the project exceeds NIS 2 billion;

"builder of a national infrastructure project" – any of the following:

"railway builder" – as defined in section 14a of the Railways Ordinance [New Version], 5732-1972;

"infrastructure builder" – any of the following:

"control" – as defined in the Natural Gas Sector Law.

"(b) "infrastructure company" – an infrastructure holder as defined in section 38 of the Economic Plan Law (Legislative Amendments for the Implementation of the Economic Policy for the Budget Years 2017 and 2018), 5777-2016, or an infrastructure builder as defined in the said section, as the case may be;";

"(5) in section 59ad –

Nothing in the provisions of this Section shall derogate from the provisions of any law; disputes within the jurisdiction of the Committee under the provisions of Section D of Chapter V of the Natural Gas Sector Law shall not be dealt with under the provisions of this Law but under the provisions of the said Section; however, if a party to the dispute is an infrastructure company as defined in the Natural Gas Sector Law, which is also an operating entity, the following provisions shall apply to the dispute:

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 55b(d) of the Natural Gas Sector Law as applied in section 39(c)(1)(b) of this Law, a distribution licence holder that is not a government company who, on the eve of the commencement date of this Law, applied to the Committee in respect of a dispute to which it is a party for adjudication of the dispute with an infrastructure holder over which the Committee is competent to adjudicate under the Natural Gas Sector Law, or agreed to bring any dispute with an infrastructure holder before the Committee for adjudication, shall continue to have the provisions of section 55b(d) of the Natural Gas Sector Law apply to its application to the Committee or its said consent, as the case may be, and such holder shall not be regarded as having agreed to bring any dispute with an infrastructure holder or infrastructure builder before the Committee in accordance with its powers under this Section.

This Law shall come into force on the 3rd of Tevet 5777 (1 January 2017) unless otherwise provided therein.

Benjamin Netanyahu Moshe Kahlon

Prime Minister Minister of Finance

Reuven Rivlin Yuli-Yoel Edelstein

President of the State Speaker of the Knesset