Real-Estate in Israel can be divided into 2 categories private owned, and State owned.

In the "State owned" category is included all real-estate that is owned by the state of Israel itself, and/or local-authorities/municipalities. and/or governmental institutions and/or governmental corporations


1. According to a basic (constitutional) Law called The Basic Law of the Lands of Israel, The State may not sell the ownership in it's lands to anyone, not even citizens of Israel and/or Israeli corporations.
Nevertheless, the state may and does rent (lease) it's real-estate, keeping the ownership always to itself.
The rent (lease) is usually for a period of 49 years that automatically renews itself for another 49 years, so in total – 98 years.
The long period of the rent makes the leaser almost an owner, yet the state, as formal owner, may intervene and/or veto requested actions in the real-estate (such as building on it, as any owner would).

A big part of the residential property in Israel is owned by the State and leased to the residents in the above way.

2. The State of Israel has rules restricting the possibility of foreign people and foreign corporations to lease State owned residential property.
In general, these limitations do not allow foreigners to acquire State owned property. There are several exceptions, one of which is that foreigners that are entitled to Israeli Citizenship according to the Israeli Law of Return would receive permission to buy (actually – as said above – rent) such State owned property.

The above Law gives this privilege to any Jewish person, man or woman, anywhere around the Globe.

Non-Jewish persons would have grave difficulties to own (actually – as said above – rent) state owned real-estate.

The above situation is both when renting the real-estate from the State itself ("first hand" property, that is new property/apartment) and when buying the rights from a former renter ("second hand" property/apartment)

3. In addition to the above, special problems may rise if the desired residential property is not in one of the cities but in a Kibbutz or other social-corporated village, usually integrating residential usage and agronomical usage of the lands.

Not only that these lands are owned by the State, therefore the above rules in art. 1-2 apply, but these social-corporations have inner rules restricting who may become a member in them. These inner rules usually do not allow foreigners and non-citizens to become their members.

- from Israeli Law - Laws regarding property ownership in Israel
information provided by Yosef Miller, adv.
Miller – Sieradzki
Advocates & Patent Attorneys
18 Mahanaim st, Haifa, Israel