skills-il/legal-tech/israeli-tender-proposal-builder

Israeli Tender Proposal Builder

Legal notice

This is a free information tool operated by an AI model. It explains the law and the procedure and helps you organise your own documents. All of its outputs are produced automatically by an AI model, with no involvement, review, or approval by an advocate. The output is not legal advice and not a legal opinion, but a general explanation and a template only: it does not read the full file of your matter, does not check current case law, and does not examine your specific circumstances. An AI model may err, omit data, or present a wrong conclusion.

Any text this tool drafts is an automatic draft for your personal preparation only. It is not a document prepared by an advocate and must not be relied on as evidence. This tool is not a substitute for advice that takes account of the particular circumstances and needs of each person. Before starting proceedings, signing a document, or filing with an authority or a court, consult an advocate. All use of its output is the user's sole responsibility.

Problem

Responding to an Israeli government tender is a high stakes, highly formal process. A single missing declaration, an arithmetic error in the pricing worksheet, or a threshold condition you failed to notice in the small print will get your offer disqualified on technical grounds (פסילה על פגמים טכניים) without the tender committee ever looking at the substance. Most businesses bid blind, without any view into what the state paid for similar work in past contracts, so they either price too high and lose, or price too low and bleed on execution.

Instructions

Step 1: Identify the Legal Framework

Before drafting anything, confirm which statute governs the tender and what kind of tender it is. The rules change based on the answer.

Local-authority tenders are a separate rulebook, identify them first. A city tender is governed by תקנות העיריות (מכרזים), התשמ"ח-1987 under the Municipalities Ordinance, and local and regional councils by parallel orders. The state rules in Steps 2 and 7 (Takana 6, the state מכרז זוטא track, the mr.gov.il electronic box) do not apply as written. Three municipal rules change what you draft: key municipal amounts, including the exemption and zuta thresholds, are CPI-linked (reg 2) and move every month, so compute the current figure instead of quoting a remembered one; a bid with a fundamental reservation or a basic change is disqualified outright (reg 20(ג)); and after the final decision every participant may inspect the decision and the winning bid (reg 22(ט)). Those regulation numbers are the city regulations; council orders number the same rules differently. Use the authority's own tender pack and templates.

If the issuer is Rashut Mekarkei Yisrael (RMI) and the subject is a land allocation, stop and route to the israeli-land-tenders skill instead. This skill is for supply, services, works, and framework tenders.

Step 2: Parse the Tender Document and Extract Threshold Conditions

The single most important section of any tender document is the threshold conditions (תנאי סף). If your offer does not prove compliance with every single one, it will be rejected before the price envelope is even opened. Takana 6 splits threshold conditions into two buckets.

Bucket A: Statutory conditions (Takana 6(a)) - mandatory in every tender.

Bucket B: Discretionary conditions (Takana 6(b)) - set by the issuing body.

These vary by tender and typically include:

• Minimum past experience (one equivalent contract, or several partial contracts totaling a threshold volume)
• Minimum annual turnover or cash flow over a defined period
• Specific certifications (ISO, security clearance, niche licenses)
• Minimum headcount or team composition

For every discretionary condition, extract the exact wording from the tender document into your checklist. Do not paraphrase. Do not assume the condition means what similar tenders meant last year.

Step 3: Build the Compliance Checklist

Produce a single table with every threshold condition, the evidence document you will attach, where you will obtain it, and its status. Present it to the user for review before drafting anything else.

Rule of thumb: if any row is a Blocker, stop and flag it. Do not continue drafting a proposal for a tender you cannot qualify for. The user needs to know now, not after three days of work.

Step 4: Draft the Proposal Sections in Hebrew

Work section by section. Match the order and numbering required by the tender document (mismatched section numbering is a common reason for disqualification). A typical Israeli tender response has these sections:

1. מכתב נלווה (Cover letter) - Bidder details, tender reference number, statement of intent to bid, list of enclosed documents.
2. פרופיל החברה (Company profile) - Legal name, HP/Teudat Zehut number, registered address, year established, ownership structure, core activities. Keep it tight and tender relevant.
3. טבלת ניסיון קודם (Past experience table) - One row per relevant past contract: client, subject matter, contract value in shekels, period, contact person for reference. Only include contracts that genuinely match the discretionary experience condition. Padding with irrelevant entries is a red flag for the committee.
4. מענה מקצועי (Professional response) - Your technical approach: methodology, team, work plan, milestones, risks and mitigations. Map each requirement in the tender's professional chapter to a specific paragraph in your response.
5. הצעה כספית (Price offer) - In a separate sealed envelope (מעטפה נפרדת) if the tender is two envelope. Price structure must exactly match the template the tender provides. Never add line items, never remove line items.
6. הצהרות ותצהירים (Declarations and affidavits) - The block of mandatory declarations (see Step 5).
7. נספחים (Appendices) - Licenses, certificates, proof of insurance, bank guarantee, and any other attachment required by the tender.

Mark trade secrets now, not after the award. Losing bidders may inspect the winning bid (state reg 21(ה)(1), within 30 days of notice; municipal reg 22(ט)). Parts whose disclosure may reveal a trade or professional secret can be withheld, but the committee decides, and a bidder who marks nothing weakens its own position. Mark specific passages with a one-line reason; marking the whole bid is not credible.

Draft each section in natural, direct Israeli Hebrew. Avoid the over formal government register. The committee reads dozens of proposals and prefers clarity over pomp.

Step 5: Assemble the Mandatory Declarations Block

Every Israeli public tender requires a standardized set of declarations. Missing any one of them is a disqualification event. Prepare these as separate documents.

A תצהיר (sworn affidavit) is not just a signed statement. It must be sworn before a lawyer (or another authorized person), the lawyer must warn the declarant of the criminal liability for a false declaration and confirm the declarant understood it, and the lawyer's verification block must be completed and signed. The תצהיר must also be dated on or before the submission deadline, never after. A declaration that is merely signed by the bidder without the lawyer's sworn-before-me verification, or that is undated or dated after submission, is defective.

For each declaration, confirm:

• The text matches the template in the tender document exactly (do not redraft).
• Every signatory listed in the template has signed.
• The lawyer or accountant verification is attached if required.
• The declaration is dated within the validity window the tender specifies.

Step 6: Handle the Bid Guarantee and the Preference Regimes

Two recurring elements decide tenders before the substance is even read: the bid guarantee, and the statutory preference regimes (Israeli-product, women-controlled business, and reserve-service business).

Bid guarantee (ערבות מכרז).

Most public tenders require the bidder to attach a bid guarantee with the offer, as proof of seriousness. Get every one of these right, because each is a known disqualification trap: