Topic Wiki

*=More info below
Company  Price  Sim  Talk/SMS  Web  Free Int'l  Signup Bonus  Israeli CC  Real TZBlackerry
Hot99₪49₪Unlimited3GB31 countries49₪/6 months*  Yes*Yes*
Golan99₪49₪UnlimitedUnlimited  53 countries  ₪59 /1st yearYesNoNo
01292₪Unlimited3GB42 countries*44₪/6 months  YesYes29₪
Rami Levy89₪59₪Unlimited1GB  No1₪/3 monthsYesYesNo
PelephoneYes*Yes*Free
Partner129/135₪*0₪*Unlimited  1GB/3GBAdd'l 20₪NoNoNo*39₪
CellcomA lot of $180₪  NoNo75₪

Rule #1- The Israeli cell phone service market is difficult. But cheap.
Rule #2- It is illegal for a company to "lock you in" a contract. ALL plans may be cancelled at any time with no penalty. Though, they do prevent you from opening and closing plans by charging a sim card "fee". This fee must always be paid even if paid for once before, and ranges from 39₪ to 180₪.
Rule #3- For those places that need an Israeli credit card, you may need to get one from an Israeli bank with a passport and income information although YMMV.
Rule #4- It is rarely, if ever, worthwhile to rent a "vacation plan" or prepaid, as the price for a regular unlimted plan for a month is less that a vacation plan for a week. Get a GSM phone that covers 900/1800 bands and save your money
Rule #5- All Israeli plans, whether regular or prepaid, include free incoming calls/texts.

Hot- 99₪ a month - includes unlimited calls, text and data (3 gb, then slow) and unlimited to 32 countries. Free home internet supply included. They currently have an offer if you port a number from a different network, to get the first six months for just 49₪ a month. You can move your package to a 10₪ a month plan, which includes 50 minutes and texts. You can also freeze the line once a year for up to 3 months. Regarding signup- you can use an American CC and fake TZ over the phone as one user has done.

Golan - Service is passable, but can be subpar in certain areas. There are two plans with Golan. There's the 99₪ unlimited talk/text/internet/international calling plan, which also gives you up to 2 virtual foreign numbers. This plan also includes for many countries unlimited global data roaming (6GB high-speed), incoming calls & texts, and calls & texts to Israel. They also offer a ₪29 per day data-roaming plan which gives 100MB a day in these countries. These roaming options can be very useful for foreigners regardless of whether they need Golan for Israel. See their website for details.There's a promo deal to get the 99 plan for ₪59 /month for the 1st year. There's also a ₪10 a month plan, which includes 60 min for domestic/US & CA and landlines in many countries, unlimited SMS and 10 MB of Internet, with add'l mins ₪.18 domestic, ₪.08 to US/CA and landlines in many countries, and data ₪.09 /MB. Its great for those short trips here. SIM should work in an iPad for data; you can also order a car SIM which will allow you to have 2 SIMs which draw from same plan.
[To get the sim in the USA before your trip:  golanusa.net will ship it to you for $14 (more for rush) and the 49 nis for the sim. Golan bills on the 25th of the month.  The days before the first 25th are freeprorated.(So for a trip between the 26th and the 24th of the month, you don't pay the 59 nis or 99 nis plan fee.)]

012mobile - Runs on Partner service, you will get an 054 number (unless you ported). Unlimited - 49₪ for the first 6 months and 92₪ from thereon after for unlimited everything too. Includes 3GB Data and 500 minutes to US/CA (any phone) and 40 other countries (landlines only). 9₪ plan includes 60 minutes, 60 SMS, and 100MB data. Additional domestic minutes/SMS are ₪ .09, Int'l calls to to US/CA (any phone) and 40 other countries (landlines only) are ₪ .25 per min. Add'l data bundles are available starting from ₪ 19 for 1 GB. 5GB Laptop/Tablet (data only) is 98₪.

Pelephone - Online, they accept fake TZ and US CC.

Partner - 129₪ a month for unlimited talk, text, and 1GB. 135₪ for 3GB. Family plans are cheaper.Free sim for online orders. Extra 20₪/mo. for 500 min. int'l calling. Extra 39₪ for Blackberry. May need to give 500₪ deposit that you (may) get back when you cancel the plan.  One can freeze line without charges for up to 3 months when not needed (not sure if allowed more than once per 12 months).

Freedomhot.com - 2/19/2023 - They have local pickup in lots of major frum areas and delivery too. They accept US CC. Runs on Hot Mobile. Copying and pasting from their website.
All monthly plans include: Unlimited Calls & Texts to Israeli phone numbers Unlimited outgoing calls to USA and Canada and landlines to 33 additional countries.
Unlimited incoming calls and texts from anywhere in the world. Prices include all taxes.
59 Shekels - 70GB LTE Internet Data
79 shekels - 150GB LTE Internet Data
KOSHER - Voice Only - 64 Shekels
One-time SIM card fee: 49 Shekels
Optional: add a virtual USA number for $15 per month

Misc. Info
APN settings

On Hot Mobile you can check how much data was consumed either by downloading the app or by texting גלישה  to phone number 530 from your hot mobile phone,you can as well try calling this number *6733.

Note by Menucha:
Please note: as of 4/1/13, most carriers reduce period of intro rates and at times increased cost for monthly intro. I suggest we leave the above as is, but please keep in mind new changed, which are not negotiable and based on govt agreements. monthly flat rate is still great and same. (post intro)
Also, while reps wont tell you, typically you will get longer intro rate if you activate account on your own on line, and not via rep (phone or store). confirmed with carrier. Enjoy! flat monthly, even without intro rate is still one of the lowest you will come across in the west!

Israeli cellphone rentals:

1) Talkinisrael.com
Phone: +972587564477
Whatsapp: +972536299365
Email: info@talkinisrael.com 
if you should have any problems feel free to send me a pm and I will try to help you the best I can.
Plans for sale here are primarily for long term rentals.(students and the like.)


2) Israel Rent-a-cell SIM card or eSIM with calling and data. Also you can get SIMs for Israel Kosher phones!
Contact at Israelrentacell@gmail.com or WhatsApp 972-55-333-1234
Overnight or standard delivery in USA/delivery in Israel! Pickup locations in Lakewood and Israel.
* Unlimited calls and texts in Israel
* Unlimited calls to USA, Canada and landlines in 35 countries
* Unlimited incoming calls
* 70 GB of data (can add an extra 80GB of data)
* eSIMs available!
* Free voicemail
Student discount available, $29.97 monthly, including tax! Never surprise charges or hidden fees!

3) Cellular Israel - 072-224-3300 or 718-289-0195 Full Service - short term and long term, rent phones, Kosher phones, SIM cards, mifi devices, Waze by the day or month. American Customer Service!
info@cellularisrael.com

4) Simforisrael@gmail.com free delivery to anywhere

5) UnlimitedIsrael (DansDeals Advertiser with many positive reviews on DDMS & DDF) is the leading provider of SIM card & iPhone rentals for Israel in the US.
  • Unlimited calls & texts within Israel
  • Unlimited calling to the US and Canada
  • Lightning Fast 4G Internet Speeds
  • Unlimited 4G data
  • Sim Cards - $5/day
  • iPhones - $45/week
  • Kosher Phone - $4/day
  • Mifi Hotspot - $6/day
Use code SUAVE10 for 10% off any order
« Last edited by shmuelb on August 06, 2023, 12:48:30 PM »

Author Topic: Cell Phones in Israel  (Read 1378040 times)

Offline mr. ddfer

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4540 on: October 26, 2015, 06:33:37 AM »
he did not write that, just that he received a call from orange - which can mean he actually has hot mobile (orange is their parent company), that can explain his mistake here.Something does not make sense here.
If you are on orange that you can call either direct 001 or via 012 and there should be no extra charges, as their default carrier is 012, if you would use any other like 013,014,017 etc, that's when you would get these crazy high charges

If you were with Hot mobile, then you would only use 017, if you used 012 the charges would be very high
As I explained I am new to Israel and to the way things work in this wonderful country, so still not quite sure what happened. I was told that I was getting a plan with Orange (which I specifically requested since the tenant who lived in our apartment before us advised that their service works the best in our first floor apartment.) I was not told that my long distance calls were being routed to a partnering long distance provider. I did not know the difference between Hotnet and Tikshoret, until last week after the orange rep explained what had happened. Interestingly, on my cell phone’s display, I have Orange listed as the service provider. I noticed that a friend with the same phone has Hot listed in that field. Would that explain anything?
Very similar thing happened to my brother.  Nothing to do about it.  On the one hand, its not your fault, on the other hand, its not Orange's fault either.
Thanks for sharing. It’s nice to hear that we weren’t the only people that this happened to.

Offline IYM

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4541 on: October 26, 2015, 10:27:50 PM »
I'm visiting Israel (from US) for 2 weeks and will be touring all around.  I have an iPhone 4s with Verizon.  Should I just pay the roaming plan thru Verizon or get a SIM card compatible phone and rent a SIM card?  Is there a way to unlock the Verizon iphone 4s?  link? I'll be renting a car so I'll probably need to use data on the phone very often using Waze (or is it better that I buy a GPS?)...

Offline yochiek93

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4542 on: October 26, 2015, 10:30:10 PM »
I'm visiting Israel (from US) for 2 weeks and will be touring all around.  I have an iPhone 4s with Verizon.  Should I just pay the roaming plan thru Verizon or get a SIM card compatible phone and rent a SIM card?  Is there a way to unlock the Verizon iphone 4s?  link? I'll be renting a car so I'll probably need to use data on the phone very often using Waze (or is it better that I buy a GPS?)...
Your phone should be unlocked call Verizon to confirm.
Get a Golan sim unlimited plan

Offline lindnuck

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4543 on: October 26, 2015, 10:31:24 PM »
I'm visiting Israel (from US) for 2 weeks and will be touring all around.  I have an iPhone 4s with Verizon.  Should I just pay the roaming plan thru Verizon or get a SIM card compatible phone and rent a SIM card?  Is there a way to unlock the Verizon iphone 4s?  link? I'll be renting a car so I'll probably need to use data on the phone very often using Waze (or is it better that I buy a GPS?)...

Assuming you are off contract with Verizon (likely since the 4S is a few models behind), you just call Verizon and ask them to unlock and they will. After that, I would recommend renting a SIM. I've had great experiences with unlimitedisrael.net

There are discount codes on their Twitter account, but if they don't work then PM me and I have a $10 off code you can use.

Offline yochiek93

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4544 on: October 26, 2015, 10:35:55 PM »
Assuming you are off contract with Verizon (likely since the 4S is a few models behind), you just call Verizon and ask them to unlock and they will.

-1 all Verizon phones are unlocked even in contract

Offline yhaller14

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4545 on: October 26, 2015, 10:53:14 PM »
-1 all Verizon phones are unlocked even in contract
-1 that's only the 4g phones the 4s is still a 3g phone and it could be locked
"In the end we only regret the chances we didn't take"

Offline yochiek93

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4546 on: October 26, 2015, 11:01:01 PM »
-1 that's only the 4g phones the 4s is still a 3g phone and it could be locked
If it has a sim card slot its 4g and if it doesn't have a sim card slot then its a cdma and can't be used with a sim card no matter what

Offline D93

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4547 on: October 27, 2015, 01:17:00 AM »
If it has a sim card slot its 4g and if it doesn't have a sim card slot then its a cdma and can't be used with a sim card no matter what
+1

Offline yakov116

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4548 on: October 27, 2015, 08:50:01 AM »
+1
-1 Sorry the 4s is a 3g phone but they are all unlocked. Verizon unlocked all iphone 4s's last year and there should be no problem at all.

Just for your info having a sim slot has nothing to do with 4g.

Verizon phones are all unlocked except in rare occasions (such as you are leasing the phone) the phones will be locked.
Money talks...mine says goodbye!

Offline yochiek93

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4549 on: October 27, 2015, 09:04:35 AM »


Just for your info having a sim slot has nothing to do with 4g.
This is off topic
 but -1 Verizon only started using sim cards  with 4g anything without 4g is cdma and does not have a sim card

Offline sammy n

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4550 on: October 27, 2015, 09:06:27 AM »


-1 Sorry the 4s is a 3g phone but they are all unlocked.
+1 to that.


Offline D93

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4551 on: October 27, 2015, 09:09:26 AM »
Whether it's 3g or 4g, bottom line is that a Verizon phone with a sim card slot comes unlocked and can be used in Israel.

Offline IYM

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4552 on: October 27, 2015, 11:08:51 AM »
Your phone should be unlocked call Verizon to confirm.
Get a Golan sim unlimited plan
I called Verizon and confirmed that my iPhone 4s is already unlocked and is ready to use with a global SIM card.

2 more ques about the Golan SIM card via www.golanusa.net :

1) When does my monthly billing begin?  I'm guessing only once I activate the SIM card?

2) If my wife also has a iPhone 4s, how can we get two SIM cards on the same plan?

Offline yochiek93

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4553 on: October 27, 2015, 11:12:00 AM »


I called Verizon and confirmed that my iPhone 4s is already unlocked and is ready to use with a global SIM card.

2 more ques about the Golan SIM card via www.golanusa.net :

1) When does my monthly billing begin?  I'm guessing only once I activate the SIM card?

2) If my wife also has a iPhone 4s, how can we get two SIM cards on the same plan?

1:It begins when you activate the sim cards
2: please explain what you mean

Offline IYM

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4554 on: October 27, 2015, 11:15:52 AM »

1:It begins when you activate the sim cards
2: please explain what you mean

In the wiki for this thread under Golan it says: "you can also order a car SIM which will allow you to have 2 SIMs which draw from same plan."  So can this also be done with two cell phones?  I would guess not since they would both have the same phone number, but just figured I'd ask...

Offline IYM

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4555 on: October 27, 2015, 11:22:21 AM »
Assuming you are off contract with Verizon (likely since the 4S is a few models behind), you just call Verizon and ask them to unlock and they will. After that, I would recommend renting a SIM. I've had great experiences with unlimitedisrael.net

There are discount codes on their Twitter account, but if they don't work then PM me and I have a $10 off code you can use.

That seems A LOT more expensive than golan (even with discounts), unless I am missing something....

Offline yochiek93

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4556 on: October 27, 2015, 11:22:44 AM »
In the wiki for this thread under Golan it says: "you can also order a car SIM which will allow you to have 2 SIMs which draw from same plan."  So can this also be done with two cell phones?  I would guess not since they would both have the same phone number, but just figured I'd ask...
I know someone that does it but he uses a full size sim for the second phone not micro (call Golan and see if the make that size sim for a car phone)

Offline yochiek93

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4557 on: October 27, 2015, 11:25:26 AM »
That seems A LOT more expensive than golan (even with discounts), unless I am missing something....
What service is unlimitedisrael.net?
Could be its worth the extra money to have better service

Offline IYM

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4558 on: October 27, 2015, 04:52:49 PM »
Ok, new question.  My wife has a Sprint iPhone 4s which is LOCKED and they will not unlock it.  So...what is the cheapest 'dumb' phone that I can just rent for her to be able to be in easy contact with me on my cell phone?  No data or calling USA necessary...texting would be great though.

Offline srulky

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #4559 on: October 27, 2015, 05:10:07 PM »
DDMS had an advertiser recently who had a great deal for an Israel cell rental if you are going for 2 weeks. Anyone remember this, and have more info that they can send me. Thanks