Wait, Uber is not yet in Israel? You got it. Maybe it’s because the country is still being issued, mainly on nuclear energy. Just how nuclear energy is related to automobile gases, right?
Well, apparently, despite the shares of Uber falling recently, the Israeli transportation ministry revealed to ridesharing media that it is presently working to allow ridesharing giant Uber to enter the Israeli market beginning this 2026.
The Transportation Ministry is working to allow international ride-hailing giant Uber to enter the Israeli market as soon as the beginning of 2026, Transportation Minister Miri Regev said.
“The time has come for there to be Uber in the State of Israel,” Israel’s transportation minister, Mini Regev, stated. “We travel abroad, we all see how Israelis use Uber.”
Minister Regev added that she had already instructed the superiors in her ministry to try to reach an agreement with taxi industry leaders on the entry of Uber into the market. However, she clarified that the matter would be left to taxi union heads.
“I don’t need to reach agreements with them. The decision is that there will be Uber in the State of Israel. Now the question is how to do it. At the end of the day, what interests me is the Israeli citizen. We need to lower the cost of living,” Regev stated.
The current situation, implications
Ridesharing is international now, but in Israel, what you have in Singapore are not available here. The Israelis’ best bet is Gett, which is a tech company that started in Israel, operating a ridesharing and corporate ground transportation management platform with primary focus on business clients.
The alternative is to hail taxis. However, Israeli authorities only allow taxi owners licensed by the Transportation Ministry to receive payment for transporting passengers. Not good.
Also, there is a black market of unrecognized drivers in Israel, and roads are not safe, especially that there are pirate companies around, even now advertising publicly, without fear of being apprehended. They also don’t pay taxes.
Another problem is that thousands of drivers are earning low monthly. Authorities have started cracking down on these unscrupulous drivers, so Uber’s arrival is indeed a blessing.
With this partnership, opportunities to legalize thousands of unrecognized black-market drivers will happen, and they will no longer disrupt the taxi sector, since, simply, they are legal.
What people think
Netizens are fast to react about this news. Over at The Times of Israel, user casablancaII wrote that this is just complete fabrication. “A PR stunt,” they noted.
Over on Facebook, this news isn’t much talked about and shared. However, searching on Google on what’s happening today in Israel, the conflict in the Gaza Strip still looms majestically. Several people are dying, so it is no wonder that this news on Uber would be set aside.
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