Is there Uber in Israel?

Uber came to Israel in 2014 and worked mainly with licensed taxi drivers, because Israeli law lets only licensed taxis carry paying passengers. A peer-to-peer service with private drivers ran for a short time and was dropped in late 2017 under legal pressure. The taxi service carried on, paused during Covid and returned in 2022.

In June 2023 Uber closed its Israeli taxi-hailing service. The company said it was concentrating on its main markets. Globes, the Israeli business daily, reported that most of its Israeli riders had been tourists and business travellers, the same people who search for Uber in Israel today.

In September 2025 Transport Minister Miri Regev announced that Uber would come to Israel. Uber replied the same week that it had no plans to launch in Israel and had not taken part in talks on the reform.

In January 2026 a ministerial committee backed a bill that would let apps connect passengers with private drivers. It passed a preliminary Knesset vote on 21 January and a first reading in late March 2026, by 17 votes to 1, and went back to the Economic Affairs Committee to be prepared for the final two readings. The draft asks drivers for at least four years of driving experience, specific training, a medical certificate and background checks, and keeps street hails for licensed taxis.

By June 2026 Israeli outlets reported that the bill had stalled over how to compensate the owners of taxi licences, and one of its sponsors said he no longer expected it to pass in that Knesset. The Knesset dissolved on 17 July 2026 ahead of the general election on 27 October, with the bill still short of its final readings.

If the next Knesset takes the bill up again, it still needs two more votes and the regulations that follow before any app could carry passengers in private cars. Plan your trip on the assumption that there is no Uber.

Download the app and register before you fly, while you still have home Wi-Fi. Both apps need mobile data when you land, so arrange roaming or a local eSIM in advance.

Both apps send licensed taxi drivers, so the cars and the rules are those of any Israeli taxi. The price shown depends on the ride type, and street rides use the official meter. To see what the meter would charge for a trip, try our meter fare calculator.

Booking a station ahead of time means you know the price and the vehicle before you travel, and the driver follows your flight if you are landing. It suits travellers who cannot leave things to chance: families who need child seats in the car, groups whose luggage needs a large taxi, early-morning departures, and long rides such as the airport to Jerusalem, where a fixed price makes budgeting easy.

With us, you book on WhatsApp, by phone or with the online form, and the driver contacts you after landing to arrange where to meet. Being met in the arrivals hall with a name sign is part of our VIP service. Everything about the airport ride itself is on our Ben Gurion Airport taxi page.