New drone laws and clarifications of existing drone laws are going into effect within green line Israel starting in May.
According to an Israel Channel 10 report, flying a drone without a proper license will result in a NIS 70,000 fine, but don’t worry, that doesn’t apply to everybody.
In Judea and Samaria, laws are enacted separately by the IDF, as full Israeli sovereignty has not yet been applied to those areas.
IDF’s Central Command General Nadav Padan signed a more draconian order against even having a drone in your possession within Judea or Samaria without an IDF permit.
According to Israel’s Kann Channel 11, this new military order is stricter than the previous order from a few months ago, which only forbade flying drones without permission. The new order is expected to go into effect in a few weeks after further clarification as to how it will actually be implemented and applied. JewishPress.com is waiting for a response from the IDF regarding pertinent questions the new order creates.
There are three levels of drone permits within green line Israel according to a conversation JewishPress.com held with the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel. The CAAI has begun a campaign to notify the public of the rules, and more importantly, to clarify the application of the existing law where its interpretation was unclear.
The first level is flying for fun, sport or hobby, such as when you go on a trip with your family. You are allowed to fly up to 50 meters high, during the day, and always within line-of-sight.
You can fly any model drone.
But the only way one can get liability insurance, is either if one has permit from the CAAI, or by joining a registered flight club, receiving instruction and only then you are then insured – as long as you fly within the rules.
You also can’t fly near airports. You must be at least 250 meters from residential neighborhoods, public buildings and large groups of people.
The second and third categories are commercial and general licenses – if you get paid to fly (professional photographer) or it is part of your job (policeman), you then need a professional operational category of drone pilot license.
After taking the theory and flight test, with that license you can fly up to 250 meters high. Apparently flying commercially or professionally without a license incurs the NIS 70,000 fine that Channel 10 is referring to.
Flying above 250 meters is forbidden without special approval before each flight. There are also quite a number of no-fly zones in Israel.
Night flying always requires special permission. Drones must always be in line-of-sight.
Only the 2.4Ghz frequency is allowed for the drone controllers, the 5.8Ghz is not permitted in Israel.
As stated before, within Judea and Samaria, special permits are required from the IDF in order to fly or have a drone.