Parking Prices Surge Across Israel Following New Per-Minute Billing Law

A consumer reform intended to create fairer parking fees by charging drivers per minute instead of fixed hourly rates has led to unprecedented price hikes nationwide. The "Parking Law," which amended the Traffic Ordinance and took effect in December 2025, aimed to prevent drivers from paying for a full hour when exceeding by just a few minutes. Initiated by Knesset member Naama Lazimi, the law required parking lot owners to adopt precise per-minute billing from the start.

However, parking companies responded by significantly raising the per-minute rates, often to 50-60 agorot per minute, resulting in much higher costs for longer stays. Exclusive data from Pango for 2025 and 2026 reveal that the city with the sharpest increase is Rishon Lezion, where parking prices jumped 30.2% within a year, raising the average hourly rate from 8.54 to 11.12 shekels. Bnei Brak remains the most expensive city for parking, with an average hourly rate of 18.85 shekels, up 19.1%, attributed to its dense commercial activity and high demand.

Other major cities also saw double-digit increases: Haifa and Petah Tikva rose about 15.5%, and Tel Aviv-Jaffa increased by 11%, although average parking duration there slightly decreased by 3.2%. Netanya was the exception, with parking prices dropping 7.2%, which correlated with an 18.3% increase in average parking time, though street parking rates rose 11.7%. Ashdod and Beersheba recorded more moderate increases of 17% and 1.4%, respectively, and remain the cheapest for street parking.

The new pricing model led drivers to shorten their parking times, with seven out of nine cities showing a decrease in average parking duration, notably Haifa (down 11.4%) and Ashdod (down 10.6%). Public backlash was swift, with reports of some private parking lots and malls, such as TLV Mall in Tel Aviv, raising prices by up to 50%. During heated Knesset Economic Committee discussions chaired by MK David Bitan, parking company managers admitted to raising prices by about 20% to offset economic losses. MK Lazimi accused parking owners of exploiting a social law to impose drastic hikes, while the Finance Ministry dismissed the law as "stupid."

After only seven months, the Economic Committee approved the law's repeal in second and third readings. If the repeal passes the full Knesset, parking fees will revert to the previous system of charging a full hour initially, then in 15-minute increments. However, no maximum price limits exist, so prices may not return to previous levels. Pango's marketing VP Adi Hangbi noted that regulatory changes directly affect driving and parking habits. Meanwhile, Israeli drivers continue to bear the financial burden, paying more minute by minute as the government and parking operators negotiate the future.