Electronic Notarial Certification and the Digital Apostille
Since 2021 a notarial certificate can be drawn up electronically, and since 2022 it can be authenticated with a digital apostille. This guide sets out what the electronic route covers, what still requires attendance before the notary, and how to choose between the traditional and the digital path.
Electronic notarial certification and the digital apostille: what changed
In 2021 Israel adopted the technology that allows a notarial certificate to be drawn up electronically and to be authenticated through a digital apostille system. The step aligned Israeli practice with a change that had already taken place in many other countries.
Traditionally, anyone who needed the services of a licensed notary attended in person so that the notary could authenticate a signature or certify a document. The electronic certificate keeps that attendance where the law requires it, and removes it where it was never required.
The sections below set out what the electronic route covers today, where it saves time, and what is worth confirming before choosing it.
Who a notary is and what the role covers
A notary in Israel is a lawyer authorised to certify, authenticate, attest and draw up legal documents across a wide range of fields. The certificate the notary issues serves as evidence in court of the identity of the people who signed, of the fact that they signed before the notary, and of the fact that they signed of their own free will.
A document authenticated by a notary also carries a presumption that it was signed freely rather than under pressure. That presumption is what gives the notarial certificate its evidentiary weight.
The central powers of a notary, as they appear in the Notaries Law, 5736-1976:
- Authentication of a property agreement between spouses
- Authentication of a signature on a power of attorney
- Certification of the correctness of a copy of a document
- Certification of an affidavit
- Certification of a power of attorney
- Attestation of a will made before a notary, as a will before an authority
- Certification of a translator’s declaration
Traditional authentication of signature before a notary
The red notarial seal is familiar from the documents that matter most: property agreements between spouses, wills, powers of attorney and the wide range of documents intended for use abroad. Once the certificate was issued, the signatories carried the physical documents to the receiving body themselves, and the notary kept paper copies in the office archive.
That route remains fully available. Where a printed certificate with a physical seal is preferred, or where the receiving body asks for one, nothing about the process has changed.
The digital transformation
The powers described above all turn on certifying and authenticating documents so that they can be relied on in court and before the authorities. Until February 2021 each of those acts ended with a seal pressed onto paper.
Since then an electronic notarial certificate has been formally recognised in Israel, as it is in many countries. That recognition opened the way to producing notarial documents quickly and submitting them to local and international bodies, among them the Inheritance Registrar, the courts, consulates and banks.
One boundary is worth stating plainly. Notarial authentication by video link, known elsewhere as remote notarisation, is not permitted in Israel. Where the notarial act requires a signature, the signatory attends before the notary.
Digital authentication of signature: how the process works today
The regulations governing notarial services now include the option of drawing up an electronic notarial certificate and of authenticating it with a digital apostille, alongside the printed certificate that remains available to anyone who prefers it.
Attendance in person is still required for identification. The signature itself can be handled digitally: a document signed by hand can be brought in and scanned, or signed digitally by one of the methods recognised under the Electronic Signature Law.
Where the notarial act does not require a signature before the notary, for example certification of the correctness of a translation, the process can be completed without attendance at all.
Traditional or digital: choosing between them
Two routes are open. The traditional certificate is issued and sealed at the office. The electronic certificate is signed with an approved electronic notarial signature and delivered as a file.
Where digital signature methods are unfamiliar, the traditional route is the simpler one and nothing is lost by choosing it. Where the receiving body is known to accept electronic notarial certificates, the digital route saves both time and the cost of local or international courier, since the certificate can be sent by email.
The first question is therefore not which route is better in the abstract, but which one the body receiving the document accepts.
The digital apostille (e-Apostille)
In 2022 the Ministry of Justice launched a service that issues a digital apostille certificate without a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or to the courts.
The service applies to an electronic notarial certificate signed with an approved electronic notarial signature issued by a certification authority. A printed certificate continues to follow the traditional apostille route.
What it costs
An electronic notarial certificate costs the same as a printed one. Notarial fees are fixed in the Notaries Regulations (Service Fees), 5739-1978, they are identical at every notary in Israel, and they are updated on 1 January each year in line with the consumer price index.
Because the amounts change annually, the full current fee table is kept in one place, on the Notary Department page.
Looking ahead
The electronic certificate and the digital apostille are the first stage of a longer change in how documents are authenticated. Further steps are likely to follow as receiving bodies adapt their own procedures.
For now the two routes exist side by side, and the practical gain is already measurable: an electronic certificate reaches a body abroad in minutes rather than days.
In summary
In summary, the electronic notarial certificate and the digital apostille make a growing part of notarial work faster and less costly, while the traditional route stays open for anyone who needs it. Identification before the notary remains the constant in both.
Choosing between them depends on what the receiving body accepts, on the type of notarial act, and on whether that act requires a signature before the notary. Those three questions interact, and the answer is rarely obvious from the outside, which is where a notary who handles them daily makes the difference.
Our office draws up electronic notarial certificates and accompanies their authentication by digital apostille. Tell us which body the document is intended for, and we will set out the route that fits your case. The forms of notarial certificate under regulation 9(b) of the Notaries Regulations are collected on the firm’s forms and resources page.
What people ask most often
Can a notarial certificate be issued without attending the office?
Does an electronic notarial certificate cost more?
What is a digital apostille and when is it used?
Does every institution accept a digital notarial certificate?
All Notary Department pages
Need an electronic notarial certificate?
Tell us which body the document is intended for and which notarial act is required. Those two details decide whether the electronic route fits your case, and we will say in advance what to bring.