Paying Israeli Bills from Abroad: Arnona, CityPay and Municipal Websites

You can reach the major Israeli card companies and the Israel Electric Company from abroad today. Municipal payment sites are a different story. In our check on 23 October 2026, CityPay and the Beersheba, Rishon LeZion and Haifa municipal sites did not open from abroad, although they work from Israel. For arnona (municipal property tax) and other municipal bills there are two ways: a channel that doesn't depend on the website, such as Tel Aviv-Yafo's payment line, or an Israeli IP. With a card, the more likely snag is a fraud check confirmed by SMS or a call to the number on file with the card company; to receive SMS codes you will also need an Israeli phone number.

Test your arnona payment site with an Israeli IP: free for 3 days, no credit card required. After that it's 17 CAD a month (about ₪36), taxes included, and only if you choose to subscribe. You'll need the free OpenVPN app: we send you a configuration file and instructions, you connect and open your site. There's no separate app of ours to install.

What opened from abroad and what didn't

• Open from abroad today: Isracard, Max and the Israel Electric Company. You can check charges, pay or change details there as usual.
• Don't open from abroad: CityPay, which many municipalities use for paying arnona and other municipal bills online, and the Beersheba, Rishon LeZion and Haifa municipal sites.
• Restricted by the municipality's own notice: Tel Aviv-Yafo says that, for information-security reasons, some information and digital services on its website and apps are restricted when you connect from outside Israel; arnona, parking and municipal fees can then be paid by phone on +972-3-7244444 (Tel Aviv-Yafo).

Other municipalities, water corporations and Cal were not part of that check. Where a site is closed, it simply doesn't open, with no explanation.

That is the picture today. Sites that open now can close to foreign connections without warning, as Tel Aviv-Yafo has already done for part of its services. You usually find out when a payment is already due and end up trying one VPN after another in a hurry until one more or less works. It is calmer to set it up in advance and, when you need it, just press "Connect".

Card payments: the check is on your phone

More often the site opens and the trouble comes at the payment. Card companies screen transactions in real time. Cal says that when a transaction looks like possible fraud, it is declined, and Cal sends an SMS or a voice message to the mobile number on file to confirm it is you; then you make the transaction again (Cal). Isracard says its system usually stops an unusual transaction, such as a very large amount or a purchase from a country you have not visited, and sends you an alert (Isracard). If that confirmation goes to an Israeli number you no longer use, the payment waits until you reach the company by phone.

To receive SMS codes you will also need an Israeli phone number, the one on file with your card company. The same goes for bank transfers; see Using your Israeli bank from abroad.

Municipal bills without a VPN

1. Pay by phone where the municipality offers it. Tel Aviv-Yafo takes arnona, parking and municipal fee payments from abroad on +972-3-7244444.
2. Payment requests in Bit. Bit (the mobile payment app) offers a service that sends payment requests from your municipality straight to the app; you join by scanning the QR code on the bill in the Bit app (bit). Bit needs your Israeli phone number and Israeli bank account; we didn't test it from abroad.
3. Ask your municipality which payment options it offers to residents abroad. We have checked only the channels named here.

What you can do without the website

From public sources — Isracard contacts, Max contacts, Bit contacts, CityPay payment page, Tel Aviv-Yafo arnona, Cal contacts, Israel Electric Company contacts, Israel Electric Company complaints, in Hebrew:

• Isracard: customer service for cardholders abroad on +972-3-6364666, 24/7; loss, theft, fraud or an unrecognised transaction on +972-3-6364400, 24/7. WhatsApp 054-8947598. The regular line is *6272, Sun–Thu 9:00–16:00; *6272 is an Israeli number.
• Max: WhatsApp 054-5408881, Sun–Thu 08:30–20:00, Fri 08:30–13:00. Phone 03-6178888, Sun–Thu 08:30–16:00, dialled from abroad as +972-3-6178888. Cards with the Bank Leumi logo: *5522, Sun–Thu 08:30–21:00, an Israeli number. Post: בן גוריון 9, Bnei Brak 5112102, ת.ד 2205.
• Cal: customer service 03-5726444, WhatsApp 03-5725111, Sun–Thu 08:30–16:00, closed on Fridays and holiday eves; from abroad +972-3-5726444. For cardholders abroad (lost card, a transaction that won't go through, a card kept by an ATM): +972-3-5724801, 24/7. Loss, theft or suspected fraud: 03-5723666, from abroad +972-3-5723666, 24/7.
• Bit: *6428 or 076-8012414, Sun–Thu 9:00–17:00, Fri and holiday eves 8:30–12:30. *6428 is an Israeli number; 076-8012414 is dialled from abroad as +972-76-8012414.
• Israel Electric Company: the 103 call centre is an Israeli number; from abroad call +972-4-8187100. WhatsApp and SMS: 055-7000103. The service channels run Sun–Thu 08:00–19:00, Fri and holiday eves 08:00–13:00. Complaints (תלונות הציבור): [email protected], fax 072-3428252 (from abroad +972-72-3428252), post: אנילביץ 56, Tel Aviv, ת.ד 25, 6100001. Include your contract account number (מספר חשבון חוזה), first and last name, a contact phone and a detailed description of the complaint.
• CityPay: the payment page lists no support phone; the only contact, next to the verification-code field, is the email [email protected].
• Tel Aviv-Yafo: arnona, parking and municipal fees are taken by phone on +972-3-7244444.
• Beersheba, Rishon LeZion, Haifa: the arnona departments' phones and addresses are in our guides for Beersheba, Rishon LeZion and Haifa.

Municipal bills with an Israeli IP

1. Sign up for SuperStableVPN — 3 days free, no credit card required. Install the free OpenVPN client, import your configuration file and connect.
2. Check that an IP-lookup site shows Israel.
3. Open CityPay or your municipality's website, enter the details from the bill and complete the payment.

How to tell it worked: the page that didn't open before now loads, and you reach the payment form. If the page loads but the card is declined or a code doesn't arrive, that is the card company's check above, not the connection. If the site still refuses with the VPN on, send our support the error text — we help in English, Hebrew and Russian.

An Israeli IP doesn't remove your card company's fraud checks, and it doesn't help with a payment refused for reasons of the account itself. To receive SMS codes you will also need an Israeli phone number.