Client updates /  Antitrust

The District Court convicted most of the defendants in the IT cartel case, one of the most substantial criminal proceedings in Israel in recent years in the field of competition law. Alongside the convictions, the court acquitted our client Haim Shohat, and the company Matrix, of one of the charges, after determining that the prohibited understanding required for conviction for a cartel offense had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

In early September 2025, the Israeli Supreme Court issued its ruling on Youngster v. State of Israel, also known as the “Poland trips cartel case.” In this landmark ruling, the Supreme Court called for the imposition of much harsher sentences for restrictive arrangements between competitors (cartels). It also set a minimum sentence of nine months of incarceration for such offenses.

The Israel Competition Authority (ICA) published a draft consent decree with Bristol-Myers Squibb and Neopharm, requiring payments of over ILS 44 million by the companies and ILS 200,000 by a Neopharm executive, following indications of monopolistic abuse.

In July 2025, the European Competition Commission imposed a EUR 489,000 fine on Alchem International Pvt. Ltd. and its Hong Kong subsidiary for their involvement in a pharmaceutical cartel involving the active ingredient used in the manufacture of an abdominal antispasmodic medicine.

The Israel Competition Authority (ICA) conducted a thorough investigation of the S. Schestowitz Group, an Israeli company in the food and consumer goods sector, due to suspicions the company operated a cartel in the food industry in violation of the Economic Competition Law and the Law for the Promotion of Competition in the Food and Pharmacy Industries.

Bank Hapoalim and Israel Discount Bank will each pay the State Treasury ILS 40 million within the framework of an administrative settlement, in respect of their acquisitions of minority stakes in a competitor.

The US government has recorded another big win in the battle that US law enforcement agencies have been waging for years against Google.

The Israel Competition Authority (ICA) announced that as of March 31, 2025, it will begin publishing on its website a list of pending merger transactions and exemption applications for restrictive trade arrangements that are under its review.

In light of the security situation in Israel, the Director General of the Israel Competition Authority issued several special guidelines last week to facilitate business activities during the state of emergency.

Commercial information or intentions disclosed in public companies’ public statements might expose them to investigations or sanctions by the Israel Competition Authority. The tension between the reporting obligation and the desire to maintain a competitive market will be resolved only through clear guidelines issued by the regulatory authorities.