Knesset bill would block class actions against businesses turning over up to 9 million shekels
On 16 September 2026 the joint committee of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee and the Economics Committee met during the Knesset recess for a special session on Amendment 16 to the Class Actions Law. The committee approved splitting two things out of the bill: the sections that shield small businesses, and the requirement to contact a defendant before filing a motion to certify a class action. Subject to a plenum vote, the split sections go to second and third readings.
The full bill passed its first reading about two years ago and stalled there. Splitting it is the way to move the part that has broad agreement without waiting for the rest, which includes ending settlements paid in store vouchers and capping plaintiff lawyers' fees. The chair of the Constitution Committee, MK Simcha Rothman, said the law reflects cooperation and broad support for small businesses.
The threshold: turnover up to 9 million shekels
Under the updated text, a small business is one whose annual transaction volume in the year before the claim is filed does not exceed 9 million shekels. No class action may be filed against such a business.
That number was the whole argument in committee. Business sector representatives asked for 20 million shekels, arguing that businesses of that size also collapse under a single claim. Consumer groups and disability rights groups pushed back, saying such a widening would leave the public with no enforcement tool against a large share of the market. The text landed on 9 million.
Figures the Small and Medium Business Agency at the Ministry of Economy presented to the committee explain why the threshold matters this much. Israel has roughly 700,000 active businesses. 85 percent of them turn over up to 2 million shekels a year, and 93 percent turn over up to 5 million. A 9 million shekel line puts the large majority of businesses in the country outside the law, including almost every self-employed person.
Sixty days to fix before a filing
The second piece that was split out is the notice mechanism. For certain violations, a motion to certify a class action cannot be filed until 60 days have passed since the defendant was contacted. The business gets the letter and has two months to correct the problem.
In the text presented in July, a business that fixes the problem within that window pays 2,000 shekels to the person who contacted it, and the class action goes away. A motion filed without going through the procedure is struck by order of the court.
Which violations enter the notice track
The prior notice duty applies to violations where the public benefit lies in stopping future harm rather than compensating for the past. The list covers short weight or short quantity in a packaged product, marketing messages sent in breach of the spam rules, product labelling, unit price display, and publication of an accessibility statement.
That list touches the daily running of a small business. A shop selling packaged goods, an owner sending marketing texts to customers, and a website required to publish an accessibility statement are all inside it.
Where the bill stands
This is a bill, not a law. The committee approved the split, the plenum has not voted, and the second and third readings have not happened. A business that receives a pre-claim letter today is governed by the law as it stands, not by this text.
Two checks worth running now
The tracks on the notice list are also the tracks where claims actually get filed against small businesses. Marketing messages are the most common of them. Any text or email sent without consent you can prove, without a working opt out, or without stating that it is an advertisement and who sent it, is a violation that costs money even with no class action attached.
Two checks can be done today. Go through the mailing list and confirm every recipient has documented consent, and check that the accessibility statement on the site exists and is current. If the bill passes, these violations move into a track that gives 60 days to fix before a claim arrives. Until then there is no such window.