Sending SMS to Israel: number formats, Hebrew encoding and sender IDs
If your app sends SMS worldwide, Israel has a few quirks that silently break validation, inflate costs or annoy users. This is a short checklist. The full guide is linked at the end. 1. Number format Israeli mobile numbers have 10 digits locally and start with 05 . For international systems, drop the leading 0 and add 972 : Format Example Local 050-123-4567 / 0501234567 E.164 +972501234567 Not…
Sending SMS to Israel requires attention to specific number formats, Hebrew encoding, sender IDs, timing, delivery reports, and marketing regulations.
Israeli mobile numbers are 10 digits starting with 05. For international formats, drop the leading 0 and add +972 to the beginning. Examples include 050-123-4567 (local) or +972501234567 (E.164). Only specific numbers starting with 05 (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 58) are Israeli mobile. Exclude 056 and 059, which belong to Palestinian networks, and avoid 057, which is no longer in use.
Hebrew characters are encoded in UCS-2, doubling the cost compared to GSM-7 encoding used for Latin characters. A single SMS segment can hold 160 Latin characters or 70 Hebrew characters. Any Hebrew letter, emoji, curly quotes, or long dashes will trigger UCS-2 encoding. Watch for invisible direction marks borrowed from word processors, as they also count as characters.
Sender IDs can be a mobile number, a landline number, or an alphanumeric name up to 11 characters. Mobile or virtual numbers are recommended if you need recipients to be able to reply. Verify your provider's verification requirements before sending.
Timing is based on the Asia/Jerusalem time zone (UTC+2/UTC+3 in summer). Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes don't align with European or US schedules, so use the IANA time zone for scheduling. The business week is Sunday through Thursday, and Shabbat (Friday evening to Saturday night) is a non-working day.
For OTP messages, place the code first, name the service, state the purpose and validity, and avoid including a link. If the user didn't request the code, ignore the message. Delivery reports (DLR) are accepted, not just "delivered." Monitor for a lack of final status within a set time frame, treating it as a failure to allow for retries.
Lastly, marketing messages in Israel require prior consent, clear sender identification, and an easy opt-out mechanism. Consult with local legal counsel before automating marketing sends. More detailed information on sender IDs, delivery report statuses, and replies can be found in the full guide on SMS in Israel: A Developer's Guide.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
