eSignature Legality Summary
Israel follows the prescriptive Electronic Signature Law and supports the use of e-signature that are in legal compliance with any legal requirements – “provided that the purposes underlying the signature requirement found in the law are achieved with sufficient certainty under the circumstances”. Israel also supports the concept of digital signature technology and certification of the digital certificate provider by the local government through a ‘Certified Electronic signature’.
In addition, the laws supporting e-signatures in Israel have undergone amendments leading to more acceptance recently. According to the latest amendments, a contracting party can choose the method of electronic signing documents or contracts wherein the signing party bears the burden of proving that the counter-party has in fact signed the contract. This clause has played an instrumental role in clearing the way to a wider introduction of e-signatures and the benefits they carry.
.*The information on this site is "AS IS" and for general information purposes only.General Business Use (Yes)
Whilst 100% legal; there are exceptions for very specific types of transactions. It is still up to the discretion of the independent user, or governing body, whether they are used or not. As each business needs are different and the agreements themselves may vary. We always advise you to speak with an authority within your businesses category.
Court-Admissible (Yes)
Each country has its own regulations that determine whether an electronic signature is seen as legal or not. So, as long as your electronic signature adheres to these, a signature won't be rejected simply for not being handwritten.
e-Signature Legal Model (Tiered)
Israel’s legal model is a tiered one. This means that Qualified Electronic Signatures are seen as a legal type of e-signature. This doesn’t mean that a non-QES e-Signature can’t be submitted in court, but it will need extra evidence to support it.
emSigner Supports Following Use Cases for Standard Electronic Signatures (SES)
- Software license agreements
- Copyright licenses
- Employment contracts, non-disclosure agreements, employee invention agreements
- Commercial agreements between corporate entities including non-disclosure agreements, purchase orders, order acknowledgements, invoices, other procurement documents, sales agreements, distribution agreements, service agreements and others
- Consumer agreements including new retail account opening documents, sales terms, services terms, purchase orders, order confirmations, user manuals, policies and others
- Residential and commercial lease agreements up to a period of 5 years
- Trademark licenses and intangible property transfers including patent and copyright assignments
- Most corporate documents, including written resolutions of the board of directors of a company
Use Cases That Are Not Supported or Typically Not Appropriate for Electronic Signatures or Digital Transaction Management Using emSigner
Following are the use cases that are specifically not supported for digital or electronic processes or that includes requirements wherein wet ink or handwritten signatures or formal notarization is required.
- Handwritten wills
- Affidavits
- Debentures (security agreement)
- Registration forms, documents and notices submitted to Regulators, e.g. the Pledges Registry and the Companies Registrar
- Certain types of entities/ financial institutions like such as banks may favor wet ink, handwritten signatures instead of electronic signatures. The Israeli law allows the use of simple or secure electronic signatures in all other cases, provided that wherever required, and by the law, the signature must fulfill sufficient degree of certainty, the purposes of the requirement. This vague standard could be subjected to amendments or rejection by courts in the future
“Digital Signature” means a transformation of a message using an asymmetric
cryptosystem such that a person having the initial message and the signer’s public key can accurately determine
(a) whether the transformation was created using the private key that corresponds to
the signer’s public key; and
(b) whether the message has been altered since the transformation was made
External Resources
eMudhra, and all associates including agents, officers, employees or affiliates, are not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary or consequential damages.