Who is involved on the Israeli side
A death in Israel is registered with the Ministry of the Interior, which issues the death certificate. Where the death was sudden or unexplained, the case may pass to the police and to the National Center of Forensic Medicine before release, in the same way as in most countries.
An export permit is required before a deceased person may leave Israel, and the airline will require it along with the certificate and the embalming or sealing documentation. A licensed local provider handles these steps; a family abroad cannot obtain them directly.
The calendar is the biggest difference
Israel’s working week runs Sunday to Thursday. Offices close early on Friday and do not operate on Saturday, and they close entirely for Jewish holidays, some of which run for consecutive days. A case that is complete on a Thursday afternoon often cannot move until Sunday.
This is not an obstacle so much as something to plan around. Where a family abroad is waiting for a funeral date, it is far better to be told this at the start than to assume a continuous timeline and have to move the arrangements.
Consulates, dual nationality and the receiving country
The consulate of the deceased’s country registers the death for its own records and issues the documents the home country will need. Where the deceased held Israeli nationality as well, both systems may need to record the death, and the order in which that is done can matter.
The receiving country sets its own import requirements, and these drive much of the paperwork: whether embalming is required, whether a zinc-lined coffin is required, whether consular legalisation of the Israeli documents is required. We confirm these before preparing anything, because preparing to the wrong standard means starting again.
Burial in Israel as an alternative
Some families conclude that burial in Israel is what the deceased would have wanted, and that is a decision with its own arrangements rather than a fallback. It removes the export permit, the coffin specification and the flight, and it involves a burial society and a cemetery instead.
Where a family is genuinely undecided, it is worth knowing that the two paths diverge early, and that some preparation suited to one is not suited to the other.
This is general information, not advice on a specific case. Requirements differ between countries, between airlines and sometimes between cases. We are a private coordination company, not a government body, embassy or consulate.
Common questions on this subject
Can the family arrange this from abroad?
Most of it, yes. Identification, signatures and instructions can generally be handled remotely, and a licensed provider in Israel carries out the steps that must be done in person. Travel is sometimes required, but less often than families expect.
How does Shabbat affect the timing?
Offices, the burial societies and much of the aviation chain pause from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening. A file ready late on Friday generally resumes on Sunday. Around the festivals the pause can be longer.
Is embalming required to leave Israel?
It depends on the receiving country and the airline rather than on Israel alone. Where the destination permits a sealed and refrigerated transfer, that is often the route taken. We confirm the requirement for the specific destination.
What if the deceased held two nationalities?
Both consular systems may need to record the death, and the receiving country may require documents in a particular form. It is worth raising at the start, because it can change which documents are requested and in what order.