The evidentiary stage in the price-fixing case against Eyal Ravid, CEO and owner of the Victory supermarket chain, is set to begin Wednesday in the Lod District Court before Judge Michael Kreshen. The case is considered a flagship prosecution for the Israel Competition Authority and is seen as a precedent-setting test for future price-coordination cases. Opening statements by the prosecution and defense will come first, followed by testimony from Eli Shani, formerly vice president of sales at Dr. Fischer, and Uri Levi, CEO of Beit Hashita.
Ravid is the central defendant in a six-count indictment filed in February 2025. The charges say he spoke with suppliers and agreed to raise prices only if competitors also raised theirs. According to the indictment, he and Victory allegedly interfered with the retail prices charged by rival chains through suppliers Dr. Fischer, Shestowitz and Beit Hashita. One cited message to Shani read, in part, that Ravid had raised prices while a competitor in Modi'in had not yet increased catalog prices. Prosecutors say this amounts to violating the Food Law provision banning a retailer from intervening through a supplier in another retailer's prices, the first criminal indictment ever brought under that clause.
The indictment also relies on public remarks Ravid made in 2021, which the Competition Authority says were meant to signal retailers and suppliers that price hikes were coming and to open the door to coordinated increases. Among them were a Facebook post warning of a “tsunami of price increases,” and media interviews in which he said major suppliers would soon bring stores a new price list and that “there is going to be a very strong price increase.” Prosecutors argue these statements were part of an attempt to reach a restrictive agreement on prices.
Additional charges concern alleged restrictive arrangements between Victory and Yochananoff, and between Victory and Super Barkat. In the Yochananoff case, the chains allegedly agreed not to run promotions at the same time, except for pre-scheduled periodic sales. In the Super Barkat case, the alleged deal was to preserve both sides' gross margin after the purchase tax on disposable goods rose. Yochananoff owner Eitan Yochananoff, deputy CEO Elad Harzi, and Super Barkat manager Efraim Teshuva each face one count of restrictive agreement, while Yochananoff itself and Super Barkat are also charged.
Ravid and the other defendants deny all wrongdoing. Ravid says his public comments were a warning about coming price hikes, not a message to raise prices, and that the statements were directed at consumers, not suppliers or rivals. He also argues the indictment stitches together unrelated events and that his talks with suppliers were ordinary commercial negotiations over Victory's purchasing terms. Counsel for Super Barkat said her clients will argue in court that they committed no offense. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
