List of law schools in Israel
This is a list of law schools in Israel.
Universities
There are six university faculties of law at the following Israeli universities:
- Bar-Ilan University (BIU) — Yaakov Herzog Faculty of Law, Ramat Gan
- University of Haifa (HAI) — Faculty of Law, Haifa
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) — Faculty of Law, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem
- Tel Aviv University (TAU) — Buchmann Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv
- Reichman University — Harry Radzyner School of Law, Herzliya[1]
- Ariel University — Faculty of Law, Ariel
Colleges
In addition, the following Israeli academic colleges operate accredited law schools:
- College of Law and Business, Ramat Gan
- College of Management Academic Studies, Rishon LeZion
- Netanya Academic College, Netanya
- Ono Academic College, Kiryat Ono
- Academic Center for Science and Law, Hod HaSharon[2]
- Zefat Academic College, Safed
- Sapir Academic College, Sderot
- Peres Academic Center, Rehovot
- Carmel Academic Center, Haifa
Bar examination pass rates
All graduates of Israeli law schools must pass the Israel Bar Association's written qualifying examination (bechinat hahasmacha) in order to be licensed to practice law.[3] The examination is administered twice yearly, in summer (typically June or July) and winter (typically December), by a Committee of Examiners (Va'adat Bohanot) appointed by the Minister of Justice under Amendment 38 to the Bar Association Law (2016).[4]
Pass rates fell sharply following the 2016 amendment, reaching a historic low in November 2016 with an overall pass rate of approximately 30% (raised to 37% after appeals).[5] Structural reforms in 2017 introduced a new three-part exam format, and in November 2018 the passing score was lowered from 65 to 60.[6] Pass rates have since fluctuated, generally between 32% and 62%, and have been affected by disruptions from the Israel-Hamas war (from October 2023) and the Israel-Iran war (June 2025).
The Bar Association publishes detailed pass-rate statistics after each sitting, broken down by institution, by number of times the examinee has taken the exam, and by location of internship.[7] Graduates of the six accredited university law faculties consistently outperform graduates of college law schools by a margin of approximately 30 to 50 percentage points.
Recent sittings: overall results
| Sitting | Examinees | First-time examinees | Overall pass rate | First-time pass rate | Avg. score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | 2,953 | 2,056 | 52.3% | 67.7% | 59.2 |
| July 2025[8] | 2,599 | 1,771 | 59.5% | 77.8% | 61.5 |
| December 2024[9] | 2,270 | 1,371 | 32.4% | 49.0% | 53.2 |
| September 2024 | 1,863 | 1,012 | 59.9% | 82.4% | 61.9 |
| June 2024 | 2,156 | 1,259 | — | 68.2% | — |
| February 2024[10] | 1,754 | 1,058 | 54.7% | 75.2% | 60.7 |
| April 2024[11] | 770 | 101 | 16.2% | 57.4% | 50.5 |
| June 2023 | 1,957 | 1,221 | 49.5% | 71.0% | 59.2 |
| December 2022 | 2,188 | 1,386 | 62.0% | 79.0% | 63.0 |
| June 2022 | 1,506 | 597 | 43.0% | 64.0% | 57.5 |
Source: Israel Bar Association press releases.
For earlier sittings, the Bar Association reported overall pass rates of approximately 53% in December 2020, 34% in August 2020 (raised to approximately 55% following successful appeals), 48% in winter 2019, and 54% in July 2019 (2,582 examinees, 67% first-time pass rate).[12][13]
First-time pass rates by institution
The Bar Association reports first-time pass rates as the primary indicator of institutional performance, since overall pass rates are weighted by repeat examinees who have accumulated from previous unsuccessful attempts. The following table shows first-time pass rates and (in parentheses) the number of first-time examinees from each institution across six recent sittings.
| Institution | Jun 2022 | Dec 2022 | Feb 2024 | Sept 2024 | Jul 2025 | Dec 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hebrew University of Jerusalem | 95% (25) | 96% (105) | 100% (74) | 98.0% (98) | 96.0% (126) | 95.9% (145) |
| Tel Aviv University | 100% (34) | 94% (146) | 97.4% (121) | 98.6% (141) | 96.9% (161) | 86.6% (112) |
| Bar-Ilan University | 100% (24) | 98% (88) | 95.0% (65) | 93.8% (81) | 92.6% (148) | 91.7% (120) |
| University of Haifa | 100% (15) | 98% (47) | 94.3% (36) | 94.1% (34) | 89.6% (48) | 90.9% (44) |
| Reichman University | 85% (58) | 87% (32) | 93.8% (23) | 91.7% (24) | 82.4% (34) | 87.6% (275) |
| College of Management | 91% (67) | 88% (187) | 90.3% (88) | 93.3% (135) | 89.9% (198) | 86.6% (194) |
| Sapir Academic College | 93% (33) | 91% (66) | 89.2% (44) | 90.5% (42) | 79.6% (54) | 73.8% (61) |
| Peres Academic Center | 54% (23) | 81% (66) | 92.9% (63) | 80.0% (50) | 86.5% (89) | 53.6% (28) |
| Zefat Academic College | 64% (27) | 84% (36) | 66.7% (19) | 70.0% (10) | 75.0% (28) | 44.0% (25) |
| Academic Center for Science and Law | 53% (154) | 74% (205) | 63.0% (119) | 73.9% (46) | 69.9% (83) | 56.3% (96) |
| Netanya Academic College | 36% (131) | 73% (176) | 72.5% (138) | 64.3% (70) | 66.7% (165) | 52.3% (128) |
| Ono Academic College | 60% (560) | 68% (649) | 60.1% (597) | 66.5% (212) | 64.5% (484) | 49.9% (655) |
| College of Law and Business | 48% (165) | 53% (183) | 61.9% (169) | 55.4% (65) | 70.8% (120) | 55.0% (129) |
| Carmel Academic Center | 0% (37) | 0% (40) | 50.0% (21) | — | 0.0% (1) | 0.0% (3) |
Source: Israel Bar Association press releases. Italics denote university faculties of law. Bold figures denote the leading institution by first-time pass rate in that sitting.
Average scores by institution
The Bar Association also publishes the average score (out of 100; passing threshold 60) achieved by each institution's examinees. Average scores diverge meaningfully from pass-rate rankings in some sittings, as a small number of examinees just below the threshold can shift the pass rate substantially while the underlying score distribution remains stable.
| Institution | Dec 2022 | Feb 2024 | Sept 2024 | Jul 2025 | Dec 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hebrew University | 73.7 | 72.7 | 74.7 | 72.7 | 70.9 |
| Tel Aviv University | 74.8 | 73.7 | 73.7 | 72.1 | 69.3 |
| Haifa University | 74.5 | 73.6 | 71.9 | 70.3 | 68.0 |
| Bar-Ilan University | 73.1 | 72.3 | 71.1 | 71.4 | 70.1 |
| Reichman University | 69.4 | 69.8 | 66.7 | 65.8 | 67.1 |
| College of Management | 69.5 | 69.0 | 71.2 | 69.7 | 67.6 |
Source: Israel Bar Association press releases. Bold figures denote the highest average score in that sitting.
Patterns
Several patterns recur across the documented sittings:
- University–college gap. Graduates of the six accredited university faculties of law consistently outperform graduates of college law schools by 30 to 50 percentage points. In the December 2025 sitting, universities recorded a collective pass rate of 87.5% compared with 43.2% for colleges.[14]
- Leadership among universities. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University have alternated at the top of the institutional table. Tel Aviv University recorded the highest first-time pass rate of any institution in June 2022 (100%), September 2024 (98.6%), and July 2025 (96.9%), and the highest average score among all institutions in December 2022, February 2024, September 2024, and July 2025. The Hebrew University led the table by first-time pass rate in December 2022 (96%) and December 2025 (95.9%).
- Top college performance. Among colleges, the College of Management Academic Studies has consistently been the strongest performer, with first-time pass rates approaching or exceeding 90% in most documented sittings and average scores comparable to mid-tier universities.
- Examinee volume. Ono Academic College is consistently the single largest source of examinees — 800 in December 2024, 1,047 in December 2025, and 822 in July 2025 — despite below-average pass rates, reflecting its very large undergraduate law program.
- Carmel Academic Center. Records the lowest pass rates in most published sittings, with 0 of 18 first-time examinees passing in July 2025 and 0 of 3 in December 2025, despite very small examinee numbers.
See also
- Israel Bar Association
- Council for Higher Education of Israel
- Education in Israel
- Legal profession in Israel
References
- ↑ Formerly known as IDC Herzliya; recognized as Israel's first private university by the Council for Higher Education in August 2021.
- ↑ Formerly Sha'arei Mishpat Academic College.
- ↑ "Israel Bar Association". Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- ↑ Bar Association Law (Amendment No. 38), 5776–2016.
- ↑ Morag, Gilad (2016-11-01). "70 אחוזים נכשלו בבחינת לשכת עורכי הדין". Ynet (in Hebrew).
- ↑ "אחרי הורדת ציון המעבר: רק 36% עברו את בחינת לשכת עוה"ד". Globes (in Hebrew). 2019-01-23.
- ↑ "Israel Bar Association — Qualifying Examinations" (in Hebrew).
- ↑ Originally scheduled June 2025; postponed due to the Israel–Iran war.
- ↑ Following protests and ministerial intervention, the passing score for this sitting was lowered by regulation from 60 to 55.
- ↑ Originally scheduled December 2023; postponed due to the Israel–Hamas war.
- ↑ Special sitting added under wartime emergency regulations; the majority of examinees were repeat candidates.
- ↑ "זינוק באחוז העוברים בבחינת לשכת עורכי הדין". Ynet (in Hebrew). 2019-07-14.
- ↑ "ניגשים למבחני לשכת עוה"ד מחר?". Globes (in Hebrew). 2021-06-28.
- ↑ "Israeli bar exam passed by nearly 68% of first-time examinees, as divide widens". The Jerusalem Post. 2026-01-11.