Overview
The State of Israel (מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Medīnat Yisra'el) has been a contracting party to the European Convention on Extradition (ECE) since 20 Dec 1967 — as one of the first non-European acceding states under Article 30(4) of the Convention. Israel has ratified the First Additional Protocol of 15 Oct 1975 (in force 27 Sep 1975); the Second, Third and Fourth Additional Protocols have not been ratified. Israel is not an EU member; the European Arrest Warrant does not apply.
Special German–Israeli relationship: extradition traffic is well established in practice and shaped by the particular historical and political relationship of trust. From a German perspective, Israel is among the most stable rule-of-law acceding states to the European Convention on Extradition outside Europe. At the same time, new constellations have arisen since 7 Oct 2023 (the Hamas attack) and the ICC arrest-warrant decision of 21 Nov 2024 against Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant — including for German–Israeli extradition practice.
The focal points of extradition traffic are organized economic and property crime (Israel as a former "safe haven" for offending Jews with a right of return — the Sheinbein case 1999), money laundering, cybercrime, and increasingly proceedings connected to Israeli reservists and military-service constellations. Israel extradites its own nationals under precisely defined conditions following the Amendment Acts to the Extradition Law of 1999 and 2001 (see "Country-specific issues").
Legal basis
Extradition to Israel is governed by the European Convention on Extradition of 13 Dec 1957 (ECE, BGBl. 1964 II p. 1369) in conjunction with the First Additional Protocol of 15 Oct 1975. The Second, Third and Fourth Additional Protocols do not apply in relation to Israel. In addition, the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters of 20 Apr 1959 (ECMACM) applies, which Israel ratified on 27 Sep 1967.
Domestically, on the German side the IRG applies (Sections 1 ff. IRG). For German nationals, Article 16(2) of the Basic Law in conjunction with Section 80 IRG remains a bar; extradition of Germans to Israel is not admissible. On the Israeli side, the Extradition Law 5714-1954 (חוק ההסגרה), as amended by the Amendment Acts of 1999 (Amendment No. 7) and 2001 (Amendment No. 8), and the Israeli Criminal Procedure Law (חוק סדר הדין הפלילי) apply.
On the Israeli side, the central authority for international mutual legal assistance is the Office of the State Attorney — International Affairs Department within the Ministry of Justice (משרד המשפטים). On the German side, the Higher Regional Courts are competent in the admissibility proceedings (Sections 13 ff. IRG); the granting decision is made by the General Public Prosecutor's Offices and, on questions of principle, by the Federal Office of Justice.
On the Israeli side, the District Court of Jerusalem decides at first instance on the admissibility of the extradition (Art. 9 Extradition Law); an appeal lies to the Supreme Court of Israel as both the appellate court and the constitutional court (בית המשפט העליון). The granting decision is made by the Minister of Justice.
Country-specific issues in Israel
The Sheinbein reform 1999/2001 — extradition of Israeli nationals: until 1999, Israel as a rule did not extradite its own nationals (including persons with a right of return under the Law of Return 5710-1950). The case of Samuel Sheinbein (1999) — a 17-year-old US citizen from Maryland with an Israeli father who fled to Israel in 1997 after a murder — caused a dramatic strain on US–Israeli relations and led to the Supreme Court judgment of 25 Feb 1999 (CrimApp 6182/98 Sheinbein v. Attorney General) against extradition. This was followed by Amendment No. 7 (Extradition Law) 1999 and Amendment No. 8 of 2001: protection against extradition now applies only to persons who possessed both Israeli nationality and their residence (resident) in Israel at the time of the offense. Other Israeli nationals are extradited; for resident Israelis, extradition is possible subject to the condition that any custodial sentence will be enforced in Israel.
ICC arrest warrants of 21 Nov 2024: on 21 Nov 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (charges under Articles 7 and 8 of the ICC Statute in the context of the Gaza war). Israel is not a party to the ICC Statute; Germany is. In German law, the surrender to the ICC is governed by Sections 1 ff. IStGHG — not by the extradition part of the IRG. The constellation raises complex questions regarding Germany's duty to cooperate (Art. 86 of the ICC Statute) and Germany's Staatsräson ("Israel's security is part of Germany's Staatsräson", Merkel's Knesset speech of 18 Mar 2008).
Israel Residence Ordinance (IsraelAufenthÜV) of 22 Jan 2024 (BGBl. 2024 I No. 15): an ordinance temporarily exempting Israeli nationals from the residence-title requirement, in force 26 Jan 2024, with retroactive effect to 7 Oct 2023. Relevant to the accompanying immigration-law advice in extradition proceedings.
German–Israeli dual nationals — military-service constellation (Section 28 StAG): since 6 Jul 2011, the consent of the Federal Ministry of Defense required under Section 28 StAG for joining the Israeli armed forces is deemed to have been granted automatically for German–Israeli dual nationals. Loss of German nationality therefore no longer occurs for IDF service since 2011. Losses occurring before that date may, where applicable, be reversed by re-naturalization under Section 13 StAG. Moreover, the German Nationality Modernization Act of 27 Jun 2024 permits multiple nationality generally.
Death penalty: Israel has abolished the death penalty for ordinary criminal offenses (the last civilian execution being that of Adolf Eichmann in 1962); it formally remains in force for "Crimes against the Jewish People and against Humanity" and for high treason in wartime. The reservation under Article 11 ECE must therefore be examined in the relevant constellations.
Religious personal/family law and special status groups: as a rule not directly relevant to criminal extradition proceedings; where there is a family context (custody-related abduction with a connection to criminal proceedings), the rabbinical courts and the Israeli personal status law must be taken into account.
Detention conditions and the human-rights review
The Israeli prison system is administered by the Israel Prison Service (שירות בתי הסוהר, SHABAS). There are around 30 facilities of various security levels, including Ayalon Prison (Ramla), Maasiyahu (Ramla), Hadarim (Sharon), Ofer (West Bank) and the high-security Ketziot complex in the Negev Desert. Owing to Israel's particular situation, facilities are run in two main categories: for "security prisoners" (predominantly Palestinian detainees; special rules) and for "criminal prisoners". For German extradition proceedings, the second category is regularly the relevant one.
The material detention conditions in the facilities for "criminal prisoners" as a rule meet Western standards. The Israeli Supreme Court judgment in HCJ 1892/14 Association for Civil Rights v. Minister of Public Security of 13 Jun 2017 set a minimum cell size of 4.5 m² per inmate (well above the CPT standard of 4 m²) and thereby triggered structural reforms. The reform process is in transition.
From German extradition practice, Aranyosi arguments in relation to Israel — where the matter concerns the "criminal prisoner" facilities — rarely carry the day. The defense therefore regularly concentrates on other points (dual criminality, double jeopardy (ne bis in idem), political / military offenses, statute of limitations, the rule of specialty, the Sheinbein constellation for Israeli dual nationals).
Reports on "security prisoner" facilities (Ofer, Ketziot, Megiddo) and on so-called administrative detention (מעצר מנהלי) on the basis of the Emergency Powers (Detentions) Law 5739-1979 document systematic deficiencies; the application of this constellation in extradition traffic under the European Convention on Extradition is, however, practically excluded in fact.
Lines of defense
The defense in Israeli extradition proceedings focuses on the following points:
- Article 16(2) of the Basic Law in conjunction with Section 80 IRG (extradition of Germans): excluded where the person holds German nationality; remains a bar for German–Israeli dual nationals. Re-naturalization / retention constellations under Section 13 / Section 28 StAG must be examined carefully.
- The Sheinbein constellation for Israeli dual nationals (Amendment Acts 1999/2001): extradition to Israel is possible even for Israeli nationals, provided their resident status at the time of the offense was not in Israel — including under the sentence-enforcement return clause.
- Dual criminality (Art. 2 ECE): minimum penalty threshold of 1 year on both sides; for enforcement, at least 4 months of remaining sentence (Section 3(2) IRG). Where there are Israel-specific offenses (e.g. violations of military-service obligations, religiously connoted offenses), a careful subsumption review is required.
- Political / military offenses (Art. 3 / Art. 4 ECE in conjunction with Section 6(1) IRG, Section 7 IRG): where there are charges connected to military service or a military context, Section 7 IRG (military offenses) must be examined — extradition for purely military offenses is excluded.
- Section 73 sentence 1 IRG in conjunction with Article 3 ECHR — detention conditions: where the matter concerns "criminal prisoner" facilities, as a rule unproblematic (standards correspond to Western measures; HCJ 1892/14 of 2017 with a minimum cell size of 4.5 m²). Where there is a suspicion of administrative detention or "security prisoner" status, the extradition is problematic.
- Article 11 ECE (death penalty): where charges could give rise to the death penalty under Israeli law for "Crimes against the Jewish People and against Humanity" or high treason in wartime, obtain a reservation-based assurance.
- Rule of specialty (Art. 14 ECE): limitation to the offenses granted; consent requirement in the case of supplementary requests.
- Double jeopardy (ne bis in idem) (Art. 9 ECE): examine the blocking effect of parallel proceedings.
- Statute of limitations (Art. 10 ECE): limitation of prosecution and of enforcement under both legal systems.
- Provisional extradition detention (Section 16 IRG, Art. 16 ECE): may be ordered already on the basis of an Israeli-initiated Interpol alert — even without a formal request. Early acceptance of the mandate by a lawyer is required.
- Constitutional complaint with an urgent application (Section 32 BVerfGG): in constellations of fundamental-rights relevance — in Israel proceedings rarely central owing to the rule-of-law stability, but conceivable where there is a suspicion of security-prisoner status or an administrative-detention constellation.
Legal representation in Israeli extradition proceedings
An extradition case is a specialized mutual-legal-assistance procedure that goes beyond classic criminal defense. Engaging a defense lawyer specialized in extradition law at an early stage is regularly decisive — not only after the formal extradition arrest warrant has been issued, but already from the moment of an arrest based on an Interpol notice, an SIS alert or a European Arrest Warrant.
As a Certified Specialist in Criminal Law with a focus on extradition law, I advise and represent affected persons nationwide before the competent Higher Regional Courts and in constitutional complaint proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court.