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The decision by the judges of the International Criminal Court has placed Israel in one of the most complex situations it has ever faced on the international stage. Prof. Amichai Cohen, our Special Counsel on International Law, has published an Op-Ed addressing this issue.

This version corrects minor grammatical errors and improves readability.

In the "Three Court Rulings a Week" section, the ruling in which the Supreme Court annulled a tender for public transportation services in the Golan was selected, due to a conflict of interest involving a lawyer who advised the tender committee while also providing legal counsel to the winning bidder. Adv. Eran Winner, representing Superbus, which was declared "second qualified" in the appeal to the Supreme Court, stated: "We are pleased that the Supreme Court emphasized the importance of maintaining the integrity of the tender process. However, we regret that it was not established as a precedent that the entire tender should be annulled; rather, only the winning bid was disqualified, and our company was declared the winners of the tender as 'second qualified.'"

The Ministry of Finance intends to extend the purchase tax for investors, currently set at 8%, as part of the Arrangements Law for 2025, which has led to strong opposition from contractors. Attorney Maya Carmi from our firm was interviewed by Yedioth Ahronoth and stated, among other things, that the purpose of freezing the tax rate is to disincentivize investors from purchasing apartments, thereby increasing the supply of available apartments and reducing prices, which would allow young couples and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds to buy homes.

The Real Estate Center interviewed the leading legal experts in the real estate field, including Adv. Terry Almozlino-Arnon, head of our Real Estate Department, regarding the most significant rulings of the year in planning, construction, and urban renewal. Terry highlighted a Supreme Court ruling focused on contracts made with apparent intentions and the Court’s zero-tolerance stance towards such conduct.

Adv. Hanna Daher, a partner in our firm’s Tax Department, describes in an op-ed for N12 the precedent set by the court's ruling in the Coca-Cola case. Hanna notes that this decision could prompt Israeli companies to reassess their agreements and contractual arrangements with foreign entities.

Eyal Nachshon, an expert in class actions, was interviewed by Globes following the recent rise in motions to certify class action, mainly due to the escalation in the security situation. Among other things, Eyal noted: "Nowadays, people tend to rush to file lawsuits in order to be first in line, but it’s important to stop and consider whether this is the right legal tool for their specific case."

Our firm hosted a webinar in collaboration with the GCS organization for legal advisors, focusing on the Payment Services Law. The webinar was designed for legal advisors in companies within the financial and service sectors. Presenting at the event were our lawyers, Zvi Gabbay and Anat Even-Chen, along with CPA Julie Raboy, who delivered a lecture on the technological adjustments required in light of the law.

As an expert in the field of artificial intelligence, Dr. Avishai Klein referred to the need for public companies to formulate an artificial intelligence policy. As per his advice, companies with a clear policy, transparent reporting, human supervision and proper management, can retrieve the most out of those technologies, increase the trust of investors and customers, and reduce risk.

The minimum purchase tax for real estate investors is expected to decrease automatically by the end of the year unless the government decides otherwise. Adv. Terry Almozlino Arnon, was interviewed on this matter by Globes and noted, amongst other things, that "This is not a market that can wait for January. In the last two years, we have experienced as effects in the real estate market - the increase in interest rates, the legal reform, the Swords of Iron war and the general uncertainty that has prevailed here."

Proud to represent daily.dev  - entrepreneur selected as one of the 21 most promising startups of 2024 by N12 in collaboration with the IVC.

Advs. Yuval Lazi and Nofer Rose David represented Qualtero – a company specializing in IT and consulting services - in its acquisition by Comply365 for over 30 million US dollars.

Zohar Lande, Adi Shoham, Shay Bello, and Anna Elenport are representing the Aviv Group in an administrative petition against the Herzliya Municipality. The petition was filed after the municipality undertook to approve a development plan for land within a year, a condition precedent to the transfer of the land to Aviv. The municipality however, has yet to review the plan. The Aviv Group is currently bearing the financial cost – whereas the construction is not expected to start any time soon.

In an op-ed for Calcalist, Shir Rozenzweig addresses the rights of suspects and the lack of oversight of investigative authorities concerning searches made on computer devices.

Maya Carmi Lubartovsky, head of our firm’s real estate taxation practice , participated in another episode of the ACC Podcast Series in collaboration with The new episode covers tax aspects of cash transactions, combination transactions, construction services transactions, the tax advantages and disadvantages of different transaction structures, etcetera.

As an expert in the field of real estate taxation, Adv. Maya Carmi from our firm, is a guest on the ACC podcast series, providing clarity on all aspects related to real estate taxation. The first two podcasts which were uploaded yesterday, focus on capital gains tax and purchase tax.

Eyal Nachshon, Zohar Haim Levinger and Anna Elenport represented Bank Hapoalim in a class action lawsuit filed by the Association of Representatives of Society and the Environment. In the application for the class action, it is claimed that the bank charges excessive exchange fees when converting monies in foreign currency. The court rejected the application out of hand and stated that the submission of the application constitutes conduct in bad faith and misuse of a legal process.