Penal Law, 5737-1977

חוק העונשין, תשל"ז-1977

Published: 1977-08-04Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2026-07-02 · Last amended 2026-06-30✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-28

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Preliminary Part

Chapter I: Fundamental Provisions

No punishment except under law§

No offence shall exist and no punishment shall be imposed therefor unless prescribed by law or by virtue thereof.

Punishment under subsidiary legislation§

(a)The power to make regulations for the implementation of a law includes also the power to prescribe offences against the regulations and punishments for committing them; however, a term of imprisonment prescribed in a regulation shall not exceed six months, and if a fine is prescribed, its amount shall not exceed the fine that may be imposed for an offence whose punishment is a fine for which no amount has been prescribed.

(b)Regulations in which offences and punishments have been prescribed, other than by-laws of a local authority, require the approval of a committee of the Knesset.

No retroactive punishment§

(a)A legislative provision creating an offence shall not apply to an act done before the date of its lawful publication or its commencement date, whichever is the later.

(b)A legislative provision prescribing for an offence a punishment more severe than that prescribed for it at the time of commission of the offence shall not apply to an act done before its lawful publication or before its commencement, whichever is the later; however, updating the amount of a fine shall not be regarded as an aggravation of punishment.

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Chapter II: Application of Penal Law According to the Time of Commission of the Offence

Abolition of the offence after its commission§

Where an offence has been committed and the prohibition thereof has been repealed by a legislative provision — criminal liability for its commission shall be extinguished; proceedings that have been commenced shall be discontinued; if a judgment has been given, its execution shall be discontinued; and no further consequences flowing from the conviction shall exist in the future.

Change in legislative provision after commission of the offence§

(a)Where an offence has been committed and before a final judgment has been given in respect thereof, a change has occurred with regard to its definition or to liability therefor, or with regard to the punishment prescribed for it, the legislative provision more lenient to the perpetrator shall apply to the matter; "liability therefor" — including the application of defences to criminal liability for the act.

(b)Where a person has been convicted of an offence by a final judgment and thereafter a punishment is prescribed for that offence by a legislative provision which, by its measure or type, is lighter than that imposed upon him — his punishment shall be the maximum punishment prescribed by the legislative provision, as if it had been imposed from the outset.

Time-conditioned offences§

The provisions of sections 4 and 5 shall not apply to an offence under a legislative provision in which it is prescribed, or in respect of which it is prescribed, that it shall remain in force for a specified period, or the nature of which indicates that it is subject to changes from time to time.

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Chapter III: Application of Penal Law According to the Place of Commission of the Offence

Section A: General Provisions

Offences according to their location§

(a)"Internal offence" —

(1)an offence committed wholly or partly within the territory of Israel;

(2)an act of preparation to commit an offence, an attempt, an attempt to solicit another, or a conspiracy to commit an offence, carried out outside the territory of Israel, provided that the offence, wholly or partly, was intended to be committed within the territory of Israel.

(b)"External offence" — an offence that is not an internal offence.

(c)"Territory of Israel", for the purposes of this section — the sovereign territory of the State of Israel including its territorial waters, as well as all vessels and aircraft registered in Israel.

Location of an omission§

Where an offence is committed by omission, the place of commission of the offence is the place where the duty to act was required to be performed.

Conditions of application§

(a)The application of the penal law of Israel, including with respect to an external offence, is not restricted by foreign law or by a foreign judgment, unless otherwise prescribed by law.

(b)No prosecution for an external offence shall be brought except by the Attorney General or with his written consent.

(c)The penal law of Israel shall no longer apply to an offence if the person has been tried for it abroad at the request of the State of Israel, and if convicted there — has also served his punishment therefor.

(d)Where the penal law of Israel may apply by virtue of several grounds of application, it shall apply pursuant to the least restricted ground of application.

Punishment imposed abroad§

10.

(a)Where a person is found in Israel who has been sentenced abroad by a final judgment for an offence to which the penal law of Israel applies and has not served the full punishment there, the Attorney General may, instead of prosecuting him, apply to the court to order that the punishment imposed abroad, or the part thereof not yet executed there, be executed in Israel as if the punishment had been imposed in Israel by a final judgment; in an order as referred to in this section the court may shorten the term of imprisonment that the sentenced person is to serve in Israel and fix it at the maximum term of imprisonment prescribed by the penal law of Israel for the offence in respect of which the punishment was imposed, provided that this may be done pursuant to an agreement between the State of Israel and the state in which the punishment was imposed.

(b)Where a fine has been imposed on a sentenced person as referred to in subsection (a) in the requesting state, or he has been ordered to pay compensation to another person, in addition to the punishment of imprisonment, and the requesting state has notified that the sentenced person has not yet paid the fine or the compensation, or part thereof, a court in Israel shall, upon application by the Attorney General or his representative, order him to pay the fine or the compensation, or the part thereof, not yet paid by him in the requesting state, as if they had been imposed in Israel, and the law applicable in Israel to non-payment of a fine or compensation and to their collection shall apply accordingly; for the purposes of this section, "compensation to another person" — compensation to a person harmed by the extradition offence for which the sentenced person was convicted in the requesting state.

(c)Where the State of Israel has collected a fine or compensation as referred to in subsection (b), it shall transfer it to the requesting state in accordance with an arrangement to be determined between the State of Israel and the requesting state for this purpose, including with respect to the deduction of expenses for the collection of the fine or the compensation.

Deduction of punishment or detention§

11.

Where a person has served a punishment abroad for an offence, or has been held in detention there on account thereof, the punishment or the period of detention shall be deducted from the punishment he is to serve in Israel for that offence.

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Section B: Application to Internal Offences

Internal offence§

12.

The penal law of Israel shall apply to every internal offence.

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Section C: Application to External Offences

Offences against the State or the Jewish people§

13.

(a)The penal law of Israel shall apply to external offences against —

(1)the security of the State, its foreign relations or its secrets;

(2)the constitutional order of the State;

(3)the proper functioning of State authorities;

(4)the property of the State, its economy or its transport and communication links with other countries;

(5)the property, rights or proper functioning of an association or body specified in subsection (c).

(b)The penal law of Israel shall also apply to external offences against —

(1)the life, body, health, liberty or property of an Israeli citizen, resident of Israel or public servant, as such;

(2)the life, body, health, liberty or property of a Jew, as such, or the property of a Jewish institution, as such.

(b1)The penal law of Israel shall also apply to an external offence that is an offence under the Holocaust Denial Prohibition Law, 5746-1986.

(c)"Association or body" for the purposes of subsection (a)(5) —

(1)the World Zionist Organisation;

(2)the Jewish Agency for the Land of Israel;

(3)the Jewish National Fund;

(4)the Keren Hayesod — United Israel Appeal;

(5)an audited body, as defined in the State Comptroller Law [Consolidated Version], 5718-1958;

the Minister of Justice may, with the approval of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset, prescribe by Regulations additional associations or bodies for the purposes of this section.

Offences against an Israeli citizen or resident of Israel§

14.

(a)The penal law of Israel shall apply to external offences against the life, body, health or liberty of an Israeli citizen or resident of Israel, for which the maximum punishment is one year's imprisonment or more.

(b)Where the offence was committed in territory subject to the jurisdiction of another state, the penal law of Israel shall apply to it only if all of the following conditions are met:

(1)it is also an offence under the law of that state;

(2)no defence to criminal liability under the law of that state applies to the offence;

(3)the person has not already been acquitted of it in that state or, if convicted thereof, has not served the punishment imposed upon him on account thereof.

(c)No punishment more severe than that which could have been imposed under the law of the state in which the offence was committed shall be imposed for the offence.

Offence committed by an Israeli citizen or resident of Israel§

15.

(a)The penal law of Israel shall apply to an external offence of the type of a felony or misdemeanour committed by a person who was, at the time of commission of the offence or thereafter, an Israeli citizen or resident of Israel; where a person has been extradited from Israel to another state for that offence and has stood trial there for it, the penal law of Israel shall no longer apply to it.

(b)The restrictions referred to in section 14(b) and (c) shall apply to the application of the penal law of Israel also under this section; however, the restriction referred to in section 14(b)(1) shall not apply if the offence is one of the following and was committed by a person who was an Israeli citizen at the time of commission of the offence:

(1)bigamy under section 176;

(2)an offence under Section J of Chapter VIII committed against a minor or in connection with a minor;

(2a)giving a bribe to a foreign public servant under section 291a;

(3)removal beyond the borders of the State under section 370;

(4)causing a person to leave the State for the purpose of prostitution or slavery under section 376b;

(5)trafficking in persons under section 377a.

Offences against the law of nations§

16.

(a)The penal law of Israel shall apply to external offences which the State of Israel has undertaken, by multilateral international conventions open for accession, to punish; and this, even if committed by a person who is not an Israeli citizen or resident of Israel, and wherever the place of commission of the offence may be.

(b)The restrictions referred to in section 14(b)(2) and (3), and (c), shall apply to the application of the penal law of Israel also under this section.

Delegated application§

17.

(a)The State of Israel may undertake by international convention to apply its penal law to an external offence or to apply the provisions of section 10, at the request of a foreign state and on a basis of reciprocity, also in cases other than those referred to in sections 13 to 16, provided that all of the following conditions are met:

(1)the penal law of the requesting state applies to the offence;

(2)the offence was committed by a person present within the territory of Israel who is a resident of Israel, whether or not he is an Israeli citizen;

(3)subject to the exhaustion of the law in Israel against the person, the requesting state shall, in its request, waive the application of its own law in the matter in question.

(b)No punishment more severe than that which could have been imposed under the law of the requesting state shall be imposed in Israel for the offence.

(c)All other conditions shall be determined by the convention.

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Part 1: General

Chapter IV: The Criminal Offence and Liability Therefor

Section A: The Actus Reus of the Offence

Structure of the actus reus§

18.

(a)"Element", in relation to an offence — the act in accordance with its definition, as well as a circumstance or result caused by the act, where these are among the elements of the definition of that offence.

(b)"Act" — includes an omission, unless otherwise stated.

(c)"Omission" — refraining from doing something that is a duty under any law or contract.

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Section B: The Mens Rea of the Offence

Requirement of criminal intent§

19.

A person commits an offence only if he committed it with criminal intent, unless —

(1)it is prescribed in the definition of the offence that negligence is the mental element required for its commission; or

(2)the offence is of the type of strict liability offences.

Criminal intent§

20.

(a)Criminal intent — awareness of the nature of the act, of the existence of the circumstances and of the possibility of causing the results of the act, which are among the elements of the offence, and with respect to the results also one of the following:

(1)intention — with the purpose of causing those results;

(2)recklessness in one of the following:

(a)indifference — with equanimity as to the possibility of causing the said results;

(b)heedlessness — by taking an unreasonable risk as to the possibility of causing the said results, in the hope of succeeding in preventing them.

(b)For the purposes of intention, foreseeing the occurrence of the results as a near-certain possibility is equivalent to the purpose of causing them.

(c)For the purposes of this section —

(1)a person who suspected as to the nature of the conduct or as to the possibility of the existence of the circumstances shall be regarded as one who was aware of them, if he refrained from ascertaining them;

(2)it is immaterial whether the act was done in relation to another person or another property than that in relation to which the act was intended to be done.

Negligence§

21.

(a)Negligence — lack of awareness of the nature of the act, of the existence of the circumstances, or of the possibility of causing the consequences of the act, which are among the particulars of the offence, where a reasonable person could, in the circumstances of the matter, have been aware of that particular, provided —

(1)that with respect to the remaining particulars there was at least negligence as aforesaid;

(2)that in an offence among whose particulars is a consequence caused by the act or a danger liable to be caused thereby — the doer took an unreasonable risk of the occurrence of the consequence or of the causing of the danger as aforesaid.

(b)Negligence may be prescribed as a sufficient mens rea only for an offence that is not of the category of a felony.

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Section C: Strict Liability

Strict Liability and Its Scope§

22.

(a)A person bears strict liability for an offence if it is prescribed in a legislative provision that the offence does not require proof of criminal intent or negligence; however, nothing in the provisions of this subsection shall abrogate liability for offences that were enacted before this Law came into force and in respect of which it is prescribed in law that they do not require proof of criminal intent or negligence; for the purposes of this subsection, "law" — includes case law.

(b)A person shall not bear liability under this section if he acted without criminal intent and without negligence and did everything possible to prevent the offence; one who raises such a plea bears the burden of proof.

(c)For the purposes of liability under this section, a person shall not be sentenced to imprisonment unless criminal intent or negligence has been proved.

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LawCriminal Law

חוק העונשין, תשל"ז-1977

Penal Law

Criminal Law Israel

Penal Code Israel

Onashin

criminal code

Israeli criminal law

5737

1977 penal law

Israeli criminal code

Penal Law, 5737-1977

Preliminary Part

Chapter I: Fundamental Provisions

No punishment except under law§Cite ✦

Punishment under subsidiary legislation§Cite ✦

No retroactive punishment§Cite ✦

Chapter II: Application of Penal Law According to the Time of Commission of the Offence

Abolition of the offence after its commission§Cite ✦

Change in legislative provision after commission of the offence§Cite ✦

Time-conditioned offences§Cite ✦

Chapter III: Application of Penal Law According to the Place of Commission of the Offence

Section A: General Provisions

Offences according to their location§Cite ✦

Location of an omission§Cite ✦

Conditions of application§Cite ✦

Punishment imposed abroad§Cite ✦

Deduction of punishment or detention§Cite ✦

Section B: Application to Internal Offences

Internal offence§Cite ✦

Section C: Application to External Offences

Offences against the State or the Jewish people§Cite ✦

Offences against an Israeli citizen or resident of Israel§Cite ✦

Offence committed by an Israeli citizen or resident of Israel§Cite ✦

Offences against the law of nations§Cite ✦

Delegated application§Cite ✦

Part 1: General

Chapter IV: The Criminal Offence and Liability Therefor

Section A: The Actus Reus of the Offence

Structure of the actus reus§Cite ✦

Section B: The Mens Rea of the Offence

Requirement of criminal intent§Cite ✦

Criminal intent§Cite ✦

Negligence§Cite ✦

Section C: Strict Liability

Strict Liability and Its Scope§Cite ✦

No punishment except under law§

Punishment under subsidiary legislation§

No retroactive punishment§

Abolition of the offence after its commission§

Change in legislative provision after commission of the offence§

Time-conditioned offences§

Offences according to their location§

Location of an omission§

Conditions of application§

Punishment imposed abroad§

Deduction of punishment or detention§

Internal offence§

Offences against the State or the Jewish people§

Offences against an Israeli citizen or resident of Israel§

Offence committed by an Israeli citizen or resident of Israel§

Offences against the law of nations§

Delegated application§

Structure of the actus reus§

Requirement of criminal intent§

Criminal intent§

Negligence§

Strict Liability and Its Scope§