Submitting a bid online: the Israeli government’s digital tender box

Many Israeli government ministries now accept tender bids through a digital tender box (תיבת מכרזים דיגיטלית) — the Government Procurement Administration’s Yahalom system (יהלום). Instead of delivering a sealed envelope to a physical box, you upload your bid to the website before the deadline. It saves trips and printing, but it has its own rules — and bidders who don’t know them risk a bid that never registers.

When to use the digital tender box

The submission method is stated in the tender booklet. Some tenders accept bids only through the digital box, some only in a physical box, and some let you choose — in which case you submit one way only, never both. Local authorities and government companies often use other systems or a physical box.

Before you submit: identification

To submit, you must log in through the government identification system (מערכת ההזדהות הממשלתית). If you are not yet registered, register and verify your identity in advance — a few days before the deadline, not on the last day, so there is time to sort out any problem.

Also decide in advance who in your company will submit, and make sure that person is authorised to submit on the company’s behalf.

How to submit

1. Open the tender page and start the submission in the digital box using the link in the tender.
2. Upload the files — usually PDF, Word and Excel. The system limits the number of files and their total size: check the limits in the instructions and compress scans beforehand.
3. Make sure every file opens and is legible, and give files clear names, such as “Appendix 3 — foreign workers affidavit”.
4. Submit, and save the reference number (אסמכתא) the system returns — your proof that the bid was received.

Until the deadline you can update your bid: replace files or add new ones. At the deadline the box closes.

Clarification questions through the system

In many tenders, clarification questions are also submitted through the system, and the answers are published there. Keep following updates until the deadline — they sometimes change the submission date or the appendices.

Guarantees with online submission

If the tender accepts a digital guarantee, upload it as instructed. If an original paper guarantee is required, the tender explains how and by when to deliver it — check this early, because online submission does not exempt you from it. More in Bid guarantees in Israeli tenders.

Making sure your bid gets through

• Submit a day before the deadline, not in the final minutes: system load and connection problems happen exactly then.
• Scan in colour at a reasonable resolution. An illegible document may be treated as not submitted.
• Sign every appendix before scanning — signatures are checked in online bids too.
• Keep a full copy of everything you uploaded, and the submission confirmation.
• If the system fails before the deadline, contact support and the tender’s contact person immediately, and keep a record.

SafPass extracts the submission method from the tender — which box, what format, which files and by when — and prepares an orderly list of every appendix you need to upload.