Car rental in Israel without additional insurance

Question

I have car hire insurance. But when booking a car in Israel all companies have always forced me to take an insurance from them. I've never been able to get the price that Kayak shows, which can be around 10 USD per day. The insurance ends up costing more than 10 USD per day, and always more than the cost of the car rental itself. And because I have my own rental car insurance I don't need the company's insurance.

One company told me that it's possible to get the car without their insurance if you have a US credit card. I'm not planning to get an American credit card, so I'm wondering if there another way to get an Israeli rental car without the insurance?

Our policy is independent from any car hire company and our promise to reimburse you for any excess or CDW/LDW claim is not affected by who you hire your vehicle from or what they tell you.

Worldwide Territory You have cover if the Rental Vehicle is being used in or hired in a country defined as a Worldwide Territory. Worldwide Territory is defined as all countries. Excluded Countries: Afghanistan, Cuba, Congo, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Liberia, North Korea, Myanmar, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. Excludes any claim resulting from You travelling to a specific country or to an area where the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or a local Government/Regulatory body has advised against all or all but essential travel.

Answer 1

@DarkLight answers's is indeed accurate in describing the Israel law requirements.

That being said - the only obligatory insurance is the first one - listed as , well - 'Obligatory'.

I have rented cars in Israel ( and many other countries ) on multiple occasions, and there is no Problem on insisting to get only the simplest insurance policy as required by law .

The fact that the sales personnel is so eager in persuading you to get higher insurances is that they usually get a cut of it.

Another factor is that In some countries ( Israel included ) taking a lower coverage insurance will almost automatically trigger a higher Deposit on a known and accepted credit card. ( Hence their request for a CC of known origins )

Another issue i would like to remark on is that in most places I have rented a car, Israel included, the prices are wildly open to changes based on local demand or local holidays / periods. you might want to check that the prices you see on any given websites are for the exact period and also read the small print .

Answer 2

The law in Israel requires a rental car to equip each lease with three kinds of insurance:

1. Obligatory ("Bituch Hova") - protects bodily harm for driver and all passengers.

2. Collateral ("Bituch Makif") - Theft (or attempted theft), fire, water damage etc.

3. 3rd party damages ("Bituch Tzad Gimmel")

Only the third kind can be (by negotiation) to be converted to LSI or other types of foreign insurance. I assume that the Collateral insurance might also be negotiated - but I never heard of anyone that made it... The Obligatory ("Bituah Hova") cannot be converted in any way - it's actually a hidden tax... We (Israeli) all pay it.