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 1355049 times)

Offline mom

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #40 on: August 28, 2008, 10:03:48 AM »
how can you reach Kol Contacts.
Can you rent the phone from them as well?

Offline moish

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #41 on: August 28, 2008, 10:11:22 AM »
you can but im not sure for how much the contact info is Customer Service: office@kolcontacts.co.il
Tel 054-774-4150 and 02-644-7546
US Tel 718-210-3258 and 877-448-1630
US Fax 718-732-2928

Offline Charles The Govenor

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #42 on: August 28, 2008, 05:47:33 PM »
Just go bye an unlocked phone.

Offline Charles The Govenor

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #43 on: August 28, 2008, 05:47:49 PM »
Buy*

Offline moish

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #44 on: August 29, 2008, 11:32:20 AM »
ebay is a good place to get one

Offline Charles The Govenor

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #45 on: August 29, 2008, 12:26:17 PM »
Or a little cell phone store in the mall.

Offline mancunian

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #46 on: August 31, 2008, 02:37:32 PM »
and does anyone know the best rates to call israel from america? (to a cellphone)
« Last Edit: August 31, 2008, 02:39:48 PM by mancunian »

Offline Mordy

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #47 on: January 04, 2009, 01:01:29 PM »
hmmm- anyone have any experience with data rates in Israel?
I'm going in 2 weeks and I'm bringing my own unlocked HTC Wizard so I can stay on top of things here.
Lot of talk about minutes, but very nothing about data on handset(I guess the average bochur wouldn't want to pay for it).

Is it just too expensive across the board?
Mobile Enthusiast Extraordinaire

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Offline mancunian

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #48 on: January 06, 2009, 06:37:30 PM »
speaking of this... i was actually wondering about data rates -

because w/ things like truphone and taulkonaut you can make voip calls over your phones internet (i think)...
i had such a thing in england from the company three

it would probably be much cheaper

anyone know any rates?

Offline Mordy

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #49 on: January 06, 2009, 06:51:30 PM »
probably not cheaper since data is an arm and a leg, and incoming calls are free.
I'm asking for actual data use, as in, being able to google where I am, etc. Here in the states you'll find tons of unlimited data carriers, which could make voip possible (I've made skype and other voip calls over EVDO and even Edge back in the day), but in Israel you shouldn't bother.
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Offline Bracha

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #50 on: January 15, 2009, 02:35:25 PM »
i tried this phone rental place as apposed to bringing my own phone and paying huge roaming fees, the rates were pretty good as long as you dont sit on the phone to the states all day :) its called travelcell and you can rent on the phone online and they have a brooklyn office as well, totally reccomend them!

Offline ash

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #51 on: January 15, 2009, 05:04:22 PM »
on the data plans i paid for bb sprint it was 69 for a month i paid half for two weeks

Offline Dan

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Re: Cell Phones in Israel
« Reply #52 on: February 23, 2009, 05:06:58 PM »
hmmm- anyone have any experience with data rates in Israel?
I'm going in 2 weeks and I'm bringing my own unlocked HTC Wizard so I can stay on top of things here.
Lot of talk about minutes, but very nothing about data on handset(I guess the average bochur wouldn't want to pay for it).

Is it just too expensive across the board?
I rented from Amigo last time and wouldn't touch the data...they wanted 9 cents a KB!
http://www.amigo-us.com/tourist.cfm
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline justcurious

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Cellphone rental in Israel - short term 10 days
« Reply #53 on: December 12, 2010, 10:54:16 AM »
Hi

I will be going to Israel for 10 days in January and I am looking for a celphone to use in Israel. Should I rent or should I use my unlocked gsm phone and buy a sim card.
Which companies to you recommend

Offline YudiG

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Re: Cellphone rental in Israel - short term 10 days
« Reply #54 on: December 12, 2010, 11:03:48 AM »
to buy a simcard will run abt $25

talk and save had a promo going on i believe

Offline how

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Re: Cellphone rental in Israel - short term 10 days
« Reply #55 on: December 12, 2010, 12:21:07 PM »
to buy a simcard will run abt $25

talk and save had a promo going on i believe
Talk and save has a promo for  a free phone until mid January.
http://www.talknsave.net/tourists/tdi-791.asp
You can get a sim for cheap bu calls are usually not to cheap on prepaid sims.
I wonder if the retes will go down on jan 1. rates for regular cell phones are all going down to 7 ag.

Offline MnM1130

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Re: Cellphone rental in Israel - short term 10 days
« Reply #56 on: December 12, 2010, 01:13:17 PM »
amp cellular ampcellular.com they have cheaper rates than talk n save, and better customer service.
check online... on that website.

Offline how

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Re: Cellphone rental in Israel - short term 10 days
« Reply #57 on: December 12, 2010, 01:47:56 PM »
pretty much the same prices - especially if u take the free phone offer into account

Offline MnM1130

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Re: Cellphone rental in Israel - short term 10 days
« Reply #58 on: December 12, 2010, 05:08:42 PM »
Contact nachi@ampcellular.com and he can give you any rate talk n save offers and better.

Offline elikay

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Re: Cellphone rental in Israel - short term 10 days
« Reply #59 on: December 12, 2010, 05:44:19 PM »
From experience I would say to go with a pp sim, unless you really did your homework and renting comes out cheaper.