Two practical routes exist for a US investor, and which one fits depends on how much Israel exposure you actually want.
Route 1 — US-listed ETFs (the simple path)
You don't need a foreign brokerage to get Israeli equity exposure. Two US-listed funds dominate the field [ainvest]:
- iShares MSCI Israel ETF (EIS) — broad large/mid-cap Israeli equities, around $120/share. This is the cleanest "buy the Israeli market" product and trades normally on NYSE Arca during US hours [schwab].
- ARK Israel Innovative Technology (IZRL) — narrower, tech-tilted, higher concentration risk.
The trade-off is that you're buying a fund, not the underlying companies — and right now those funds carry the same political-risk premium as the underlying market. Israeli stocks fell 3.6–3.7% in October as a hung Knesset became more likely, and the October 27 election still hasn't fully resolved the gridlock concern [ainvest].
Route 2 — Direct Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) account
For direct ownership of Israeli names (Teva, Elbit, Bank Hapoalim, the TA-35 constituents), you open a brokerage account that connects to TASE. Two flavors [broker][investing]:
- Israeli broker (a local house): easier tax handling — they report capital gains and withholding for you, support in Hebrew, simpler interface. Cost: higher per-trade commissions that add up on a bigger or active portfolio.
- International broker (Interactive Brokers, COLMEX Pro, etc.): much lower commissions, better FX, more advanced tools — but you handle the tax reporting yourself. Note the 25% US withholding on dividends of US-listed names, which you can often claim back or credit against Israeli tax.
The catch most US investors miss
TASE runs Sunday–Thursday. US equities run Monday–Friday. The mismatch creates two non-overlapping days: Israeli trading is open Sunday while US markets are fully closed (no pre-market either), and US markets trade Friday while the Tel Aviv exchange and most Israeli banking are shut [strasmore]. Orders placed on a non-overlap day sit in the queue and execute at the next market open. If you're trading from the US, just plan around this.
Practical recommendation
For a first allocation, start with EIS on a US brokerage — it's liquid, transparent, and avoids the whole foreign-account/tax-reporting stack. Move to a direct TASE account only if you want to pick names yourself, hold Israeli-listed securities specifically, or are trading at a size where commissions materially matter. Watch the political calendar — the Knesset arithmetic, not Trump's endorsements, is what Israeli equities are pricing right now [ainvest].
I'm not a financial professional — this is the landscape, not a recommendation to buy.