How to bid on a public tender in Israel: a step-by-step guide

A public tender (מכרז, michraz) is how Israeli ministries, municipalities, hospitals and government companies buy goods and services. The Mandatory Tenders Law of 1992 (חוק חובת המכרזים) requires the state, government companies and other public bodies to contract through public tenders, and local authorities run tenders under local-government law. Either way, the winner is chosen by rules published in advance — so a small business without connections can win too. This guide walks through every stage, from finding a tender to signing the contract.

1. Find a tender that fits your business

Government tenders are published on the Government Procurement Administration website (mr.gov.il); municipal tenders appear on each authority’s own site. SafPass collects open Israeli tenders in one place, translated into English and grouped by sector and buyer, and the guide Where to find tenders in Israel lists every source.

Check three things straight away: the submission deadline, whether there is a mandatory bidders’ conference, and whether a bid guarantee is required. If the deadline is days away and your bank needs a week to issue a guarantee, it is better not to start.

2. Read every tender document, not just the specification

A typical tender booklet (חוברת המכרז) contains:

• the invitation to bid — dates, how and where to submit;
• threshold conditions (תנאי סף) — the minimum requirements to take part;
• evaluation criteria (אמות מידה) — how price and quality are weighted;
• the technical specification (מפרט טכני) — exactly what must be supplied;
• appendices (נספחים) — forms, affidavits, the guarantee wording and the price form;
• the contract (הסכם התקשרות) the winner will sign — penalties, insurance, performance guarantee.

Anything published later — answers to clarification questions and amendments — becomes part of the tender and is just as binding as the booklet. These documents sometimes move the deadline or change the threshold conditions.

3. Check the threshold conditions honestly

Threshold conditions are pass/fail: a bidder who misses even one is disqualified before price is considered. Go through each condition and decide how you will prove it — past experience, turnover, licences, key personnel. Details and common examples are in Threshold conditions in Israeli tenders.

If a condition is unclear or looks tailored to a competitor, now is the time to ask.

4. Ask clarification questions on time

Every tender has a deadline for clarification questions (שאלות הבהרה), usually a few weeks before submission. Questions are sent in writing, in the format the tender asks for — often a table in a Word file. Answers are published to all bidders and change the tender terms, so read them even if you asked nothing.

Questions are normally written in Hebrew. If Hebrew is not your first language, keep each question short and cite the clause it refers to, so it is less likely to be misread.

5. Attend the bidders’ conference, if there is one

Some tenders hold a bidders’ conference (כנס מציעים) or a site visit. When attendance is a threshold condition, a company that did not attend cannot bid. Make sure your company is on the attendance list and keep the minutes.

6. Gather documents and certificates

Almost every tender asks for a bookkeeping certificate, a tax-withholding certificate, affidavits under the Public Bodies Transactions Law and confirmation of your authorised signatories. Some documents must be certified by a lawyer or an accountant. The full list, and where to get each document, is in Documents needed to bid.

If a guarantee is required, order it from your bank early and compare every word with the tender appendix — see Bid guarantees in Israeli tenders.

7. Prepare the bid itself

The price offer. Fill in the price form or bill of quantities (כתב כמויות) exactly as instructed: every line, in the same units, with or without VAT as required. Bids above the maximum price, abnormally low bids and bids that qualify the tender terms may be rejected.

The quality proposal. Where quality is scored, it is scored against the tender’s criteria. Structure the proposal so that it answers each criterion separately — relevant experience, team, work plan, references. What is not written down will not earn points.

8. Final check and submission

Before submitting, go through everything once more:

• every appendix is complete and signed in the right places;
• authorised signatories have signed and stamped — in many tenders on every page of the booklet;
• the guarantee has the right amount, wording and validity date;
• there are no notes, reservations or deletions in the tender documents;
• the number of copies and the format (paper, USB drive or files) follow the instructions.

Many ministries now accept bids through the digital tender box. A bid that arrives even a minute after the deadline is not opened, so do not leave submission to the last hour.

9. After submission

The tender committee (ועדת מכרזים) usually checks threshold conditions first, then quality (if scored) and finally price. It may ask bidders for clarifications or invite them to present their bid.

An unsuccessful bidder is entitled to inspect the committee’s decision and the winning bid, except for trade and professional secrets. In tenders under the Mandatory Tenders Law, the request is made within 30 days of being notified of the result. Inspection is the best way to learn why you lost and to improve your next bid.

The winner is usually required to provide a performance guarantee and a certificate of insurance and to sign the contract within the time set in the tender.

If you are a foreign company

Foreign companies can bid where the tender allows it, but many threshold conditions — Israeli registration, local experience, Israeli licences — effectively call for an Israeli entity or a local partner. Documents issued abroad usually need a certified translation and an apostille, and large contracts with foreign suppliers can carry industrial cooperation (offset) obligations. Check each tender’s conditions early.

The mistakes that disqualify most bids

• A threshold condition that is met in reality but not proven in the documents.
• A guarantee with the wrong wording, amount or validity — or issued in the name of another entity.
• Missing or unsigned appendices.
• A reservation or addition inside the tender documents.
• A late submission, or one delivered to the wrong place.

SafPass reads all the tender documents, including the answers to clarification questions, and prepares an English breakdown, a threshold-conditions checklist against your company’s documents and a list of everything you need to submit — with references to the clause and page of the Hebrew original.