If you have rented cars in Europe or North America, the number you are expecting is 21, or 25 for anything larger than a hatchback. So here is the short answer, and it is genuinely different: you can rent from us from the age of 17, from the first day your licence is valid, with no tenure requirement at all.
The second half is the part almost nobody explains, and it is what most people are really trying to work out: between 17 and 24 the terms do not improve year by year. There is no ladder. An 18-year-old, a 20-year-old and a 22-year-old are classified identically. There is exactly one step, and it is not where you would expect it.
What is the minimum age to rent?
17. That is the minimum set in our booking system, and it applies identically across all four branches — none of them asks for more.
For context, that is well below the industry norm. Most Israeli rental companies start at 21, and some require 23 or 25 for larger or luxury vehicles. An 18-year-old looking for a car in Israel therefore meets a good many closed doors before finding an open one.
How long must you have held the licence?
One day. The system requires the licence to be valid for at least a single day at the time of rental, and that is the whole condition. Someone who passed their test today can book for tomorrow.
This is worth stating plainly, because "no tenure requirement" reads like marketing language. It is not — it is the rule the booking flow actually applies.
"New driver" and "young driver" are two different things
The two terms get used interchangeably and they measure completely different things:
- A new driver is defined by licence tenure — under two years. That is also the legal definition in Israel, so the term means the same thing in both places.
- A young driver is defined by age — under 24.
They are independent, which produces four possible states. A 45-year-old who passed their test six months ago is new but not young. A 19-year-old who has held a licence since 17 is young but no longer new. You can be both, and you can be neither.
So what changes between 18 and 21?
As far as classification goes — nothing.
Our system is configured so that a single risk factor is enough: young, or new, or both, and you land in the same group. There is no middle tier where "young only" costs less than "young and new". In practice that looks like this:
- 17, licence for a week — young and new.
- 20, licence for three years — no longer new, still young. Same classification.
- 30, licence for six months — no longer young, but new. Same classification.
- 25, licence for three years — neither. This is the standard group.
So the one step requires both conditions to be met: 24 or over and two years of licence. Until then, an 18-year-old and a 23-year-old sit in exactly the same place.
Which means that if you were hoping renting at 20 works out differently from renting at 18 — it does not. And that is mostly good news, because it means there is nothing to be gained by waiting.
What does the law add on top?
Our classification governs the rental terms. Separately, Israeli law imposes rules that have nothing to do with us, and three of them are worth knowing before you arrive:
Under 21: no more than two passengers
A new driver under 21 who has finished the accompanied-driving period may carry no more than two passengers. If a qualified accompanying driver is sitting beside them, the limit does not apply. It is set out in section 12A2 of the Traffic Ordinance, and it is worth weighing before choosing a larger car.
Under 24: six months of accompanied driving
And it is tiered: an accompanying driver at all hours for the first three months, then only between 21:00 and 06:00 for the three months after that. From 24 there is no accompaniment requirement at all.
Two years: "new driver" status and the sign
New-driver status, and the sign that goes with it, runs a full two years from the date the licence was issued — it does not end when the accompaniment does. We provide the sign at the branch at no charge.
Who else may drive the car?
Every additional driver has to be named on the rental agreement, and exactly the same age and tenure conditions apply to them. An additional driver who is young or new can be named too. A driver who is not named is not covered — and that holds even if they are 40 with twenty years behind the wheel.
What does this mean when you book?
The classification affects the daily rate, the excess, and the option to reduce that excess with an upgraded cover. All three also depend on the vehicle category and on the dates you choose, which is why they are shown inside the booking itself rather than in a list written in advance — a number typed here would go out of date without anyone noticing.
What is fixed: the basic insurance we provide is the same in all four states.
You can check availability and pricing for your dates to see the exact figures, and the full conditions are on our car rental for new drivers page. If you need a car for longer, there is a separate track: monthly car rental for new drivers. Branch details and opening hours are on our branches page.
