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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Chapter VII: Treatment of Assets of Holocaust Victims by the General Guardian during the Interim Period
Definitions – Chapter VII§
67a.
In this Chapter –
"transferred asset" means each of the following:
(1)an asset that the company transferred to the management of the General Guardian under section 64(b);
(2)an asset in respect of which the company transferred information relating thereto to the General Guardian under section 64b, and both of the following apply to it:
(a)the asset was managed by the company and the company transferred it for the purpose of assistance or for the purpose of commemoration, or the asset is designated for transfer by the liquidator under section 64(c);
(b)the company did not commence inquiry proceedings under section 17 to trace the heirs or other holders of rights in the asset, or the inquiry proceedings were not exhausted by the company;
"interim period" means the period from the end of the period of activity of the company until the 1st day of Tevet 5788 (31 December 2027).
Application of the provisions of the Chapter during the interim period to the transferred assets§
67b.
The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to the transferred assets during the interim period.
Tracing heirs and other holders of rights in the transferred assets§
67c.
(a)The General Guardian shall initiate inquiry and examination proceedings and shall act with reasonable diligence to trace the heirs or other holders of rights in the transferred assets in respect of which, at the time of their transfer to the General Guardian, the company did not commence inquiry proceedings or in respect of which the inquiry proceedings were not exhausted by the company, and shall in particular perform all of the following actions:
(1)publish on the website of the Ministry of Justice, within 60 days of the end of the period of activity of the company, a notice containing the details of the said assets, including the type of asset and the name of the last holder of rights in the asset; the General Guardian shall also publish a notice directing to the said website, every six months, in two daily newspapers in the Hebrew language with wide circulation in Israel, and among central Jewish organisations throughout the world;
(2)perform all the actions listed in the Fourth Schedule in respect of the said assets, within two years of the end of the period of activity of the company, unless he has found with respect to a particular action that the action was previously performed by the company, or that it would not contribute to tracing the heirs or other holders of rights in the asset, or that there is no justification for performing the action for other reasons, having regard, inter alia, to the costs of obtaining the information and the value of the asset.
(b)The provisions under sections 26 to 31a that apply to the tracing of heirs and other holders of rights in assets of Holocaust victims by the company shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to the tracing of heirs and other holders of rights in the transferred assets by the General Guardian.
(c)The provisions of section 17(b) shall apply to an inquiry under subsection (a), with the necessary modifications, and with the following modification: instead of "from the end of one year" it shall be read as "from the end of two years".
Restitution of the transferred assets to heirs and other holders of rights therein§
67d.
Where the General Guardian has decided that an asset of a Holocaust victim is to be restored to an heir or another holder of rights therein and the time for filing an appeal to the appeals committee against his 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, all in accordance with the provisions of this Law as applied in section 67c(b), the provisions detailed below shall apply, as the case may be:
(1)if the transferred asset is as referred to in paragraph (1) of the definition of "transferred asset" in section 67a, the provisions of sections 32, 33 and 37a shall apply, with the necessary modifications and with the following modification: for the purposes of section 32, the fruits, profits, losses and expenses to be credited or charged to the asset shall be calculated in accordance with the provisions of sections 10 and 12 of the General Guardian Law as applied in section 67g(a);
(2)if the transferred asset is as referred to in paragraph (2) of the definition of "transferred asset" in section 67a, the provisions of section 67j shall apply.
Completion by the General Guardian of the company's actions in respect of tracing and restitution§
67e.
For the purpose of tracing the heirs or other holders of rights in the transferred assets and restoring the assets to them, the General Guardian shall act to complete the actions performed by the company for that purpose, and may perform any additional action in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter, for the purpose of tracing or restitution as aforesaid.
Demanding information and gathering information§
67f.
The provisions of sections 17(a1) and 18 shall apply, with the necessary modifications, in respect of demanding information and gathering information by the General Guardian under sections 67c to 67e.
Management of the transferred assets – application of provisions of the General Guardian Law§
67g.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 20 of the General Guardian Law –
(1)the provisions under sections 9(a) and (c), 10 to 13, 14 – in respect of provisions relating to the performance of his functions, 16, 17, 19 and 23 of the General Guardian Law shall apply, with the necessary modifications and with the following modifications, to the actions of the General Guardian in transferred assets as referred to in paragraph (1) of the definition of "transferred asset" in section 67a, including the management of such assets:
(a)the provisions of section 9(a) of the General Guardian Law concerning the duty to initiate inquiry and examination proceedings to trace the holders of rights in the asset shall not apply;
(b)for the purposes of regulation 1(a)(1) of the General Guardian (Fees) Regulations, 5738-1978, the management fee for the management of a transferred asset shall be 2% of the total value of the transferred asset at the time of its transfer to the General Guardian, provided that a management fee as aforesaid shall not be charged in respect of an asset for the management of which the General Guardian charged a fee under section 5(b);
(2)the provisions under sections 12, 13, 14 – in respect of provisions relating to the performance of his functions, 17, 19 and 23 of the General Guardian Law shall apply, with the necessary modifications and with the modifications detailed in paragraph (1)(b), to the actions of the General Guardian in transferred assets as referred to in paragraph (2) of the definition of "transferred asset" in section 67a.
Transfer of Assets§
67h.
(a)If the General Guardian is of the opinion, with regard to a transferred asset as referred to in paragraph (1) of the definition of "transferred asset" in section 67a, that there is no reasonable ground to assume that heirs or other holders of rights therein will be traced, or that there is no justification for continuing to manage the asset, the General Guardian shall act to transfer the asset in accordance with the provisions set out below, even before the end of the interim period, provided that the General Guardian has carried out the actions referred to in section 67c(a)(2) for the purpose of tracing the heirs or other holders of rights in the asset, and has given the heirs or other holders of rights therein known to the General Guardian, as the case may be, notice of the General Guardian's intention to transfer the asset at least 45 days before its transfer:
(1)if the asset is moneys — the General Guardian shall transfer it to the liquidator; if the asset is a non-monetary asset — the General Guardian shall transfer it to the liquidator for the purpose of its realisation; however, the General Guardian may act to realise the asset personally if the General Guardian is of the opinion that the nature of the asset and the nature of the realisation justify this;
(2)if the liquidator has received from the General Guardian under paragraph (1) an asset that is moneys or proceeds received from the realisation of the asset by the General Guardian, the liquidator shall transfer them in accordance with the provisions of section 64a1; if the liquidator has received from the General Guardian under paragraph (1) an asset for the purpose of its realisation, the liquidator shall act to realise it and to transfer the proceeds received from its realisation in accordance with the provisions of section 64a1;
(3)the transfer of an asset as referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be made after setting off the liquidation expenses and the expenses incurred in respect of the asset during the period of its management, including realisation expenses.
(b)If transferred assets as referred to in paragraph (1) of the definition of "transferred asset" in section 67a remain under the management of the General Guardian at the end of the interim period, the General Guardian shall transfer them to the liquidator, and the liquidator shall act to realise them and to transfer the proceeds received from the realisation in accordance with the provisions of section 64a1.
(c)(Repealed)
Assets of a Holocaust Victim Transferred to the General Guardian during or after the Interim Period§
67i.
(a)
(1)If the General Guardian is informed under section 64b(a) of an asset in respect of which the company has commenced carrying out actions under Sections B and C of Chapter III but which has not been transferred to the company, and the General Guardian has reasonable grounds to assume that the asset is an asset of a Holocaust victim, the General Guardian may, during the interim period, complete the actions carried out by the company for the purpose of transferring the asset to the General Guardian's management, and the provisions of sections 10 to 15 shall apply in this regard, with the necessary modifications;
(2)if the General Guardian is informed during the interim period of an asset, under section 5(a) of the General Guardian Law or under section 2 of the Law for the Protection of Deposited Property, 5725-1965, or in another manner, and the General Guardian has reasonable grounds to assume that the asset is an asset of a Holocaust victim, the asset shall be transferred to the management of the General Guardian, and the provisions of sections 10 to 15 shall apply in this regard, with the necessary modifications.
(b)If an asset as referred to in subsection (a) has been transferred to the management of the General Guardian during the interim period, it shall be deemed as if it were a transferred asset as referred to in paragraph (1) of the definition of "transferred asset" in section 67a, and the provisions of this Chapter applicable to such a transferred asset shall apply to it during that period, with the necessary modifications and with the following modifications:
(1)the periods enumerated in section 67c(a)(1) and (2) shall be counted from the date of the transfer of the asset to the management of the General Guardian;
(2)section 67h shall be read as follows:
(a)in subsection (a), after "even before the end of the interim period" there shall come "or before two years have elapsed from the day the asset was transferred to the management of the General Guardian under the provisions of section 67i(a), as the case may be";
(b)in subsection (b), after "at the end of the interim period" there shall come "or at the end of two years from the day the asset was transferred to the General Guardian's management under the provisions of section 67i(a), whichever is the later".
(c)If the General Guardian is informed after the interim period of an asset, under section 5(a) of the General Guardian Law or under section 2 of the Law for the Protection of Deposited Property, 5725-1965, or in another manner, and the General Guardian has reasonable grounds to assume that the asset is an asset of a Holocaust victim, the asset shall be deemed to be an abandoned asset as defined in the General Guardian Law in respect of which a management order as defined in that Law has been issued, and the provisions of that Law shall apply to it; however, notwithstanding the provisions of section 15 of that Law, at the end of two years from the day the asset was transferred to the management of the General Guardian, the General Guardian shall transfer it to the liquidator, who shall act to realise it and to transfer the proceeds received from the realisation under the provisions of section 67h(b), with the necessary modifications.
Restitution of the Value of an Asset by the State during or after the Interim Period§
67j.
(a)If a person proves, during or after the interim period, that the person is an heir or other holder of rights in an asset of a Holocaust victim that was managed by the company during its period of activity or by the General Guardian during the interim period, and the asset was transferred from their possession to another person, that person shall be entitled to receive from the State the value of the asset as it was on the day it was transferred by the company or the General Guardian, as the case may be, to another person, and if the asset was realised by the company or the General Guardian — the proceeds received from its sale, all with the addition of shekel interest as defined in the Interest and Linkage Law, 5721-1961, and after setting off the expenses incurred in respect of the asset during the period of its management, including realisation expenses, and the provisions of that Law shall apply in respect of such interest, with the necessary modifications.
(b)For the purposes of subsection (a), the transfer of the assets from the company to the General Guardian under section 64(b) shall not be regarded as a transfer to another person.
Preservation of Validity§
67k.
(a)Nothing in the provisions of this Chapter shall derogate from the validity of decisions made by the company, undertakings given by the company, and actions taken by the company under this Law before the end of its period of activity.
(b)An undertaking given to the company in consideration for the restitution of an asset of a Holocaust victim or the proceeds received from its realisation to an heir or other holder of rights in the asset, including an undertaking given to the company under section 33, shall remain in force during and after the interim period and shall be deemed as if it had been given to the State.
Performance of the General Guardian's Functions through Another§
67l.
(a)The General Guardian may perform the General Guardian's functions under this Law also through a person employed by the liquidator under the provisions of subsection (b).
(b)For the purpose of performing the functions of the General Guardian as referred to in subsection (a) and at the General Guardian's request, the liquidator shall, during the interim period, employ workers suitable for carrying out the said functions, including persons who were employees of the company.
(c)The General Guardian shall transfer to the liquidator the employment costs of those employed under subsection (b).
(d)A person employed by the liquidator under subsection (b) shall act in accordance with the instructions of the General Guardian and under the General Guardian's professional supervision.
(e)Nothing in the provisions of subsections (c) and (d) shall create an employment relationship between a person employed by the liquidator and the General Guardian or the State.
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