Holocaust Victims' Assets Law (Restitution to Heirs and Dedication for Purposes of Assistance and Commemoration), 5766-2006
חוק נכסים של נספי השואה (השבה ליורשים והקדשה למטרות סיוע והנצחה), תשס"ו-2006
Published: 2006-01-03Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2025-08-14 · Last amended 2024-08-14✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-29
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More
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Section E: Restitution to Heirs and Holders of Rights
Restitution to Heirs and Holders of Rights§
32.
Where the company has decided on a request submitted to it pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter that an asset of a Holocaust victim is to be restored to the applicant, and the period for filing an appeal against its decision has elapsed without an appeal having been filed, or an appeal was filed and the appeals committee decided that the asset is to be restored as aforesaid, the following provisions shall apply:
(1)Where the asset is in the possession of the company – the company shall restore the asset to the applicant together with the fruits that accrued from it from the day of its transfer to the company, including profits from investment operations of funds pursuant to the provisions of section 40 that were credited to the asset, and less losses that were debited to the asset as a result of investment operations as aforesaid and expenses within the meaning of section 39 that apply to the asset;
(2)Where the company has realised the asset – it shall restore to the applicant its proceeds as they were on the day of realisation, together with the fruits and profits referred to in paragraph (1) in respect of the asset and its proceeds, and less losses and expenses as referred to in that paragraph.
Delivery of Asset§
33.
(a)The company shall deliver the asset to the applicant against a written undertaking to be signed by the applicant or by the applicant's authorised representative for this purpose or by one of the other heirs in that asset who has given a personal undertaking in the applicant's stead, whereby, if it is proved that the applicant is not the holder of rights in the asset or in a part thereof, the applicant undertakes to return the asset or the value of the asset, or of the part of the asset, as the case may be, according to its indexed value as at the day of actual payment if the asset is no longer in the applicant's possession, within 30 days of service of a demand to that effect by the company; a personal undertaking by another heir in the asset as referred to in this section shall not exceed NIS 30,000.
(b)Upon delivery of the asset the company shall deliver to the recipient the documents in its possession relating to the asset or copies thereof.
(c)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the company may deliver an asset to an applicant even without a written undertaking as referred to in subsection (a) in any of the following cases:
(1)The cumulative share of the heir or of the other holder of rights in the asset does not exceed NIS 5,000, provided that the value of the asset does not exceed NIS 50,000; the Minister may, by Order, increase the amounts referred to in this paragraph;
(2)In special circumstances and subject to conditions prescribed by the Minister.
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Contact Us →Chapter V: Use of Assets Transferred to the Company, their Management and Realisation
Use of Assets§
34.
(a)The company shall carry out its functions, exercise its powers and make use of the assets transferred to it in trust for the purpose of fulfilling its objects and the objects of the Law.
(b)The assets transferred to the company shall serve to fulfil the company's objects and to carry out its functions pursuant to the provisions of this Law, and to finance the company's activities, and for that purpose only, subject to the provisions of this Chapter.
(b1)Without derogating from the provisions of subsection (b), the company shall allocate and transfer each year at least NIS 135 million and in the year 2015 at least NIS 150 million for the purpose of assistance to Holocaust survivors who are in need thereof, provided that it shall not make use of assets in respect of which decisions have been given concerning an applicant's right in an asset pursuant to section 22 or 26, assets whose realisation is stayed pursuant to section 35, or assets in respect of which the company has reasonable grounds to believe, on the basis of the findings of an investigation being conducted, that heirs or other holders of rights will be found in them; where the company finds that there are insufficient assets in its possession to allocate and transfer the said amount in that year – the board of directors shall decide on the amount to be allocated for assistance, in a reasoned decision to be recorded in the minutes, and shall submit a detailed report on the matter to the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, to the Finance Committee of the Knesset and to the Minister of Justice by 21 December of the year preceding the year for which the assistance amount is determined.
(b2)The company shall allocate and transfer each year at least 75% of the amount referred to in subsection (b1) directly to bank accounts registered in the names of Holocaust survivors who are in need thereof; however, in the year 2014, the company shall transfer at least 60% of the said amount to bank accounts as aforesaid.
(b3)Before the company takes its decision on the amount to be allocated and on the manner of allocating the funds as referred to in subsection (b1), in each year and no later than 21 days before taking the said decision, the company shall approach the Ministry of Welfare and Social Services and the Ministry for Senior Citizens for the purpose of obtaining their joint position on the matter; the said Ministries shall be entitled to transmit their joint position to the company until the time the company takes its decision.
(c)Upon the expiry of two years from the day of incorporation of the company, the company shall be entitled to make use of assets transferred to it for the purpose of commemoration, provided that the company shall give priority to the use of assets for the purpose of assistance; the amount designated for the purpose of commemoration as referred to in this subsection shall not exceed 4% of the amount allocated by the company in that year for all assistance purposes.
(d)Use of assets for the purpose of assistance and for the purpose of commemoration as referred to in this section shall be made in accordance with the criteria published by the company pursuant to section 77.
(e)(Repealed)
Stay of Realisation§
35.
(a)The company shall not be entitled to sell an asset of a Holocaust victim that has been transferred to it, or to carry out any other act that would prevent it from restoring it in specie, until the end of seven years from the day the asset was transferred to it (in this Chapter – the stay of realisation period).
(b)In this section and in sections 36, 37 and 38, "asset" – excluding money and securities.
(c)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), in respect of assets of the types listed below the stay of realisation periods listed alongside them shall apply:
(1)An asset that was managed by the General Guardian or by an administering person prior to its transfer to the company – the stay of realisation period shall end upon the expiry of the special tracing process period or upon the expiry of seven years from the day it was delivered to the management of the General Guardian or of the administering person, whichever is the later;
(2)An asset that was managed by the Jewish National Fund or by Himnuta Ltd. for at least seven years prior to its transfer to the company – the stay of realisation period shall end upon the expiry of the special tracing process period or upon the expiry of five years from the day it was delivered to the management of the company, whichever is the later;
(3)(Repealed)
Manner of Managing Assets during and after the Stay of Realisation Period§
36.
(a)During the stay of realisation period the company shall preserve an asset transferred to it and manage it in the manner it considers most beneficial to the heirs or other holders of rights in it.
(b)After the stay of realisation period of an asset, and if it has not been restored to the heirs or other holders of rights, the asset and the fruits that accrued from it, including fruits that accrued during the stay of realisation period, shall be managed by the company for the purpose of fulfilling its objects and carrying out its functions pursuant to the provisions of the Law.
Realisation of Assets§
37.
(a)Where an asset has been transferred to the company, the stay of realisation period in respect of it has elapsed, and in the circumstances of the matter and according to the information in the company's possession, after it has carried out all the steps required pursuant to this Law for the purpose of tracing heirs or other holders of rights in that asset, the company has no reasonable grounds to believe that heirs or holders of rights as aforesaid will be traced, the company may realise the asset and it may make use of the proceeds received from its sale for the purpose of fulfilling its objects and carrying out its functions pursuant to the provisions of this Law.
(a1)The company may realise an asset and make use of the proceeds received from its sale for the purpose of fulfilling its objects and carrying out its functions pursuant to the provisions of this Law even if the provisions of subsection (a) do not apply to it, in any of the following cases:
(1)All of the following apply:
(a)The information in the company's possession concerning the owner of the asset includes, at most, the name of the owner of the asset and the name of the locality and country in which the owner's last place of residence or stay was situated;
(b)Prior to the transfer of the asset to the company, the asset was held by the General Guardian, the Jewish National Fund or Himnuta Ltd., and it was transferred to the company in accordance with the provisions of this Law after that holder found that the asset is an asset of a Holocaust victim;
(c)An investigation carried out by the company in an attempt to trace additional information beyond that referred to in sub-paragraph (a) concerning the owner of the asset did not yield information that enables identification of the owner of the asset for the purpose of tracing the owner's heirs, provided that in respect of an asset that is real property the said investigation included all of the following:
(1)An approach to the Land Registration and Settlement Division of the Ministry of Justice for the purpose of tracing documents that may add to the information in the company's possession concerning the owner of the asset;
(2)An approach to the local authority within whose area the asset is situated and to the Tax Authority for the purpose of examining whether taxes or other payments in respect of the asset were paid by the owner of the asset or by someone on the owner's behalf other than the General Guardian, the Jewish National Fund or Himnuta Ltd.;
(3)Additional examinations required, in the company's opinion, for the identification of the owner of the asset for the purpose of tracing the owner's heirs;
(2)The asset is real property and no application for its receipt pursuant to the provisions of Chapter IV is pending, and according to the documents in the company's possession the asset was acquired on behalf of the Holocaust victim registered with the company as the holder of rights in it, after the victim's death; where the company has realised real property pursuant to this paragraph, the company shall continue the investigation pursuant to this Law in an attempt to trace the heirs or other holders of rights in the asset, for the purpose of restoring the proceeds it received from its sale to them in accordance with the provisions of section 32(2).
(b)
(1)The sale of an asset transferred to the company as referred to in subsection (a) or (a1) requires the prior approval of the company's board of directors to be given by a majority of at least six members of the board of directors;
(2)The approval of the board of directors shall be given only after receipt of the approval of the company's legal adviser to the sale of the asset, after the legal adviser has examined that the steps required pursuant to this Law for the tracing of the heirs and other holders of rights in that asset have been carried out and also that the preliminary conditions for the sale of the asset pursuant to the provisions of this Law and the provisions of any other law have been met; the approval of the legal adviser shall be given in writing with reasons.
(c)When considering the approval of the sale of an asset that is movable property, the company's board of directors shall consider, inter alia, the emotional or symbolic significance or value that the particular asset may have for the heirs or other holders of rights in the asset, and if it considers that the asset may have significance or value as aforesaid, it shall defer its realisation to the extent possible.
(d)Where the company has sold an asset, it may carry out any act required for the purpose of completing the sale, including registration of the act in any register maintained pursuant to a statute.
Realisation of Assets in Special Cases§
37a.
(a)Where the company has decided on a request for receipt of an asset submitted to it pursuant to the provisions of Chapter IV that an asset of a Holocaust victim is to be restored to the applicant, and the period for filing an appeal against its decision has elapsed without an appeal having been filed, or an appeal was filed and the appeals committee decided that the asset is to be restored as aforesaid, the company may, at the request of the applicant or with the applicant's consent, realise the asset and restore to the applicant the proceeds it received from its sale in accordance with the provisions of section 32(2).
(b)The company may apply to the Jerusalem District Court with a request that it authorise the company to realise real property, in any of the following cases:
(1)The company has traced a person who, according to the information in its possession, may be an heir of the owner of the asset, and despite its approaches to that person, that person has not submitted to it, within half a year of the date of the first approach to that person, a request for receipt of the asset pursuant to the provisions of Chapter IV;
(2)All of the following apply:
(a)The company has given a decision on a request for receipt of an asset pursuant to the provisions of Chapter IV in accordance with the provisions of a succession order, a probate order or an order concerning the successors of a Holocaust victim pursuant to section 31a, and according to the company's decision more than one person is entitled to rights in the asset or to a part thereof, and the period for filing an appeal against the company's decision has elapsed without an appeal having been filed, or an appeal was filed against the company's decision and the appeals committee decided that the said asset is to be restored;
(b)Some of those entitled to receive rights in the asset as referred to in sub-paragraph (a) have agreed to realise the asset and to receive its proceeds, however the company has not succeeded in obtaining the consent of all those entitled to rights in the asset to its realisation.
(c)Where the company has filed an application with the court pursuant to subsection (b), it shall give notice of the filing of the application to every person who, according to the information in its possession, may be an heir or holder of a right in the asset in connection with which the application was filed.
(d)Where the court has authorised the company to realise an asset pursuant to subsection (b)(1), it shall also give the company directions regarding the transfer of the proceeds of the asset, having regard, inter alia, to the connection of the person who, according to the information in the company's possession, may be an heir of the owner of the asset, to the asset.
(e)Where the court has authorised the company to realise an asset pursuant to subsection (b)(2), the company shall continue the investigation pursuant to this Law in an attempt to trace all the heirs or other holders of rights in the asset, for the purpose of restoring the proceeds it received from its sale to them in accordance with the provisions of section 32(2).
(f)The provision of section 37(d) shall also apply to an asset sold by the company pursuant to this section.
Presumption Regarding an Asset of a Holocaust Victim and the Company's Undertaking§
37b.
(a)Where the board of directors' approval pursuant to section 37(b) has been given for the sale of an asset transferred to the company pursuant to the provisions of this Law from the General Guardian after the General Guardian found that the asset is an asset of a Holocaust victim, there is a presumption that the asset is an asset of a Holocaust victim for the purposes of any legal act.
(b)Where a claim has been filed against the State of Israel on the grounds that a subsequent transfer of an asset pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter was registered in the real property registers even though the asset was not an asset of a Holocaust victim, the company shall be liable for any obligation or liability imposed on the State of Israel on that account.
Restrictions on Carrying out Transactions in Company Assets§
38.
(a)The company shall not be entitled, either during the stay of realisation period or after it, to lease an asset, lend it, or carry out any other act the result of which is the transfer of the right of possession and use of the asset to another person, except for a maximum period of three years, which may be extended for additional periods not exceeding three years each, provided that the agreement for lease, loan or other act as aforesaid shall enable the company to terminate them within six months of the date on which the entitlement of an heir in that asset or of other holders of rights in that asset was determined pursuant to section 22 or 26, or within six months of the date of a decision on realisation of the asset in accordance with section 37.
(b)Subject to the provisions of the proviso of section 5(b), the separately managed assets within the meaning of section 56 are not subject to attachment or charge (security interest) and no lien shall apply to them.
Expenses§
39.
Expenses incurred by the company for the purpose of managing an asset, including compulsory payments applicable to it pursuant to any law (in this section – expenses), shall apply to the asset, however the company may also collect the expenses from another asset belonging to the same person, and in circumstances in which it has seen fit that it would be efficient and fair to do so – also from other assets transferred to it; so long as the expenses as referred to in this section have not been paid to the company, they shall constitute a first charge (security interest) on the asset.
Investment of Funds§
40.
Where among the assets transferred to the company there are funds, or funds were received from the realisation of other assets of Holocaust victims, and the funds were not transferred to the company's current budget pursuant to the provisions of section 54, the company shall invest the funds in accordance with the provisions of the Trust Regulations (Manners of Investing Funds of a Public Endowment), 5764-2004, or by way of delivering them to the General Guardian for investment pursuant to the provisions of section 10(c) and (d) of the General Guardian Law.
41.§
(Repealed — תשע״ד)
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