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Market
Trends and
Insights
The primary act of competition legislation in Israel is the Restrictive Trade Practices
Law, 5748-1988 (“RTP Law”). Based primarily on the European model and drawing
inspiration from US antitrust laws, the RTP Law grants the Antitrust Authority
(“Authority”) the powers to monitor restrictive practices, mergers, monopolies,
oligopolisticpractices andmore; it allows theDirectorGeneral to impose administrative
fines or prosecute violators in criminal cases; and it also allows for private enforcement
through civil actions.
Monopolies
According to the RTP Law, a monopolist is anyone holding more than half of the total
supply or acquisition of assets or services. The RTP Law imposes stringent norms of
behavior on the monopolist, which include:
(1) A monopolist shall not unreasonably refuse to supply or purchase the asset or
service over which the monopoly exists;
(2) Amonopolist shall not abuse his position in themarket in amanner that could reduce
competition among businesses or harm the public. A monopolist is deemed to have
abused his market position if he:
(a) Sets unfair prices for the asset or service over which the monopoly exists;
(b) Reduces or increases the quantity of the assets or the scope of the services offered
by the monopolist, not within the context of fair competitive activity;
(c) Establishes different contractual conditions for similar transactions in a manner
which may grant customers or suppliers an unfair advantage vis-à-vis their
competitors;
(d) Includes unrelated conditions in a contract regarding the asset or service over which
the monopoly exists.
Where there is potential harm to competition or the public, the Director General may
instruct a monopolist to take certain measures to prevent such harm. He may also ask
the Antitrust Tribunal (“Tribunal”) to order the monopolist to sell an asset owned by it.
Recently, the RTP Law, as well as further competition legislation in Israel, has
undergone significant changes aiming to grant the Antitrust Authority and the
Director General unprecedented tools to confront the competitive challenges
arising in the Israeli economy.