Israel Group News - July 2025

Welcome to the July 2025 issue of our global newsletter, Israel Group News, aiming to keep you informed about current developments, hot topics for your consideration, and DLA Piper activities that focus on bringing the dynamic Israeli ecosystem to your doorstep.

During the second quarter of 2025, we provided a wide range of legal services to Israeli companies, investors, and entrepreneurs, as well as to businesses across the world seeking opportunities within Israel. We view ourselves as an extension of the businesses we serve; we aim to work with them for the long term, whether their needs involve day-to-day inquiries, smaller projects, special situations, or large-scale transactions.

For more general information about the Israel Group, click here. To gain a perspective on our trusted advisor practice, the types of day-to-day guidance we provide, and our representative client list, click here. To view a recap of 2024, click here. In addition, to view a video about our charitable work in the community, click here.

Please contact us if you have any questions or if we may be helpful in any manner. For new client requests, please send an email to israelclientrequest@us.dlapiper.com.

Recent legal insights from DLA Piper

• Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is advancing rapidly. A key development is the emergence of “agentic” AI structures, which operate with a greater autonomy compared to traditional AI systems. These powerful agents have the potential to transform the way companies do business – but they also raise new legal and organizational risks. Our alert explores key US legal and risk considerations.


• The EU Data Act (Data Act), applicable from September 2025, is set to become a cornerstone of Europe's strategy for data. At first glance, the Data Act may be seen as another layer of compliance. But a purely compliance-driven approach risks missing its broader strategic value. The Data Act’s preamble emphasizes the intent to enable the use of data as a strategic asset for innovation and economic growth and creates a significant commercial opportunity for organizations who know how to use it well. Understanding the legal perimeter – rights, obligations, and conditionalities – can unlock new business models, partnerships, and revenue streams. Learn how you can assess applicability and design a value proposition around this opportunity at the intersection of legal compliance and commercial strategy.


• Adopted in July 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s cybersecurity disclosure rules require public companies to report material cybersecurity incidents. However, recent developments – including SEC Chair Paul S. Atkins’ appointment in April 2025, the emergence of a Republican-appointed majority in the SEC, and ongoing efforts to rescind the rules – have contributed to uncertainty. Read more in our Market Edge blog.


• The US Department of Justice (DOJ) released updated Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Guidelines on June 9, 2025, following the Executive Order, pausing FCPA enforcement. These guidelines emphasize a prosecutorial focus on protecting US interests, signaling a shift in enforcement strategy. The new guidance reflects the changing enforcement priorities of the current administration, but it also suggests that FCPA will be a continuing tool that DOJ (and likely the SEC, as well) will use to achieve policy enforcement goals in conjunction with other enforcement statutes. Read our alert for key takeaways on re-examining existing compliance frameworks to comply with the new guidelines.


• The June 2025 edition of DLA Piper’s “Gender pay transparency: A global guide to employer obligations” is now available, bringing you the latest information on developments in Europe and beyond. At a time when material progress is being made in Europe towards implementation of the Gender Pay Transparency Directive, and legislators in other corners of the world are also focusing their attention on pay transparency measures, our guide provides a resource for all HR and legal professionals responsible for understanding and meeting global gender pay transparency obligations.


• US state governments are increasingly introducing new laws regulating healthcare transactions in an effort to thwart the level of influence that private equity firms and other corporate investors have on healthcare providers. To date, at least 15 states have enacted some form of healthcare transaction review law; several of these states have also enacted or proposed legislation in 2025 to expand the reach of the state’s existing transaction review laws. This trend shows no signs of slowing and presents both challenges and strategic opportunities for healthcare organizations and investors. Our alert summarizes the evolving state regulatory landscape for healthcare transactions, including the impetus for the influx of state regulatory activity, as well as our recommendations for healthcare organizations and investors to proactively address and adapt to these changing developments.


• In just a few weeks, several provisions of the EU AI Act will become applicable, making it more urgent for businesses to ensure they comply when using AI systems. Starting on August 2, 2025, a critical group of obligations under the AI Act will become legally binding. These measures impact not only AI developers and providers, but also deployers, including any company that integrates or uses AI systems – especially generative AI – in their operations. With these obligations fast approaching, organizations with operations in the EU must urgently ensure that their AI Act compliance strategy is fully implemented. Our alert provides considerations for how to prepare your business to meet EU AI Act obligations.


• Recent legal challenges to the Trump Administration’s tariff agenda have injected heightened uncertainty into the global trade landscape. On May 28, 2025, the US Court of International Trade issued a decisive order invalidating tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and demanded their removal within ten business days. The government responded swiftly with an appeal and secured a temporary stay from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Concurrently, the US District Court for Washington, DC issued a narrower injunction affecting two toy companies, which was similarly stayed upon appeal. Despite these setbacks under IEEPA, the Trump Administration doubled down by invoking Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act to hike existing tariffs on steel and aluminum products to 50 percent, effective June 4, 2025. This move underscores the Trump Administration’s resolve to advance its tariff-centric trade policy using alternate statutory tools. In this alert, we discuss how these developments affect the trade landscape and what companies can keep in mind.

Recent matters

Below are some recent publicly announced Israel-related transactions in which we were involved:

• Advised Israel-based Perion Network Ltd., a global advertising technology company, on the French corporate, IP, tax, and employment aspects of its USD65 million acquisition of Greenbids, a French AI platform specializing in automated campaign optimization.


• Advised Vista Credit Partners in connection with its USD300 million senior secured term loan and warrants to finance, in part, the approximately USD900 million acquisition of Dutch payment solutions provider PayU Global by Israeli fintech unicorn Rapyd Financial Networks.


• Represented Bet Shemesh Engines, an Israeli company, which manufactures engine parts and provides maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) and development services, before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) in the USD33 million acquisition of 80 percent of the membership units in Turbine Standard, an Ohio-based limited liability company (LLC) specializing in maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for jet engines.

Global activity

In the second quarter of 2025, we commenced projects for 83 Israeli companies in the following 41 jurisdictions: Albania, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, the EU, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, and the US.

Below are some new representative matters in which we assisted Israeli companies around the world:

• Commercial issues in Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Morocco, Portugal, Switzerland, the UK, and the US


• Corporate and securities issues in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, the UAE, the UK, and the US


• Employment and employee benefits guidance in Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, and the US


• Litigation and dispute guidance in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, the UAE, the UK, and the US


• Mergers and acquisitions (M&A), finance, and investment guidance in Brazil, Estonia, the EU, Iceland, Japan, Peru, the UK, and the US


• Privacy and other product regulatory guidance in Brazil, China, the EU, France, Germany, India, Netherlands, Spain, the UK, and the US


• Real estate guidance in Australia, Finland, Taiwan, the UK, and the US


• Regulatory issues in Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, the EU, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Serbia, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, and the US


• Tax guidance in Ethiopia, Kenya, the UAE, and the US
  
  

Colleague in the spotlight

Rachel Fertig
Partner
Washington, DC

Please tell us about your area of practice.

As most people who work with me know, I describe myself as a copyright nerd. And being a copyright nerd is actually much more exciting than it may sound. My practice at DLA Piper ranges from strategic copyright counseling on fair use and artificial intelligence, to billion-dollar music-asset backed securitizations, to providing subject matter expertise to trial and appellate teams on copyright issues involving everything from software to choreography.

I started my career as copyright counsel to the Association of American Publishers where I helped the industry address copyright modernization issues raised by the Department of Commerce, Copyright Office, and Congress in a government-wide review of the Copyright Act. I then served as a Barbara Ringer legal fellow at the Copyright Office, where I worked on fair use issues, legislative studies regarding the modernization of the Copyright Act, and Supreme Court litigation.

I bring this prior experience in the media industry and Copyright Office to my practice to strategically advise clients across a diverse array of matters in the technology, media, and music sectors. Much of my time these days, however, is at the intersection of copyright and artificial intelligence. I’ve been fortunate to partner with DLA Piper’s AI practice to help companies launch, and mitigate risks for, internal and external AI-based products and services; create the licensing structure for a platform for licensing copyrighted content to AI companies; and advise AI model developers and content owners on a range of strategic licensing considerations.

In addition to my work at DLA Piper, I serve as a Trustee of the Copyright Society and a Co-Chair of the ChIPs NextGen Mock Pitch Committee, which helps young women in law, tech, and policy learn skills for a successful client pitch meeting.

How do you see US AI regulation evolving over the next few years?

In my focus area of copyright and AI, I do not think there will be significant new AI regulation in the US. Notably, the Copyright Office has said that current law is sufficient to address whether and when copyright protection is applicable to outputs of generative AI (GenAI) models, as well as whether copyrights are infringed by unauthorized use of copyrighted works in the development and output of GenAI models. You can learn more here.

The real developments will take place in federal court litigation concerning whether and when use of copyrighted works to develop various types of AI models with various end uses is exempted from copyright infringement liability under the fair use defense. There are dozens of copyright infringement litigations pending in the US, mostly against AI developers, but also some integrators and end users.

In other areas, we are seeing a pattern of deregulation at the federal level. Consequently, we are seeing various states in the US step in to propose or enact new AI regulations to address issues from data privacy, to transparency, to election integrity, to deepfakes, and many more. Critically, however, the US Congress may pass a ten-year moratorium on state and local regulations of AI, but it is a contentious issue and may ultimately be left out of pending legislation.

Although the Biden Administration was actively engaged in developing regulations around AI, the current US Administration has a strong preference for free market innovation over heightened regulation, to which the recently proposed AI regulatory moratorium for US state and local entities currently being discussed in Congress adds support. That said, as DLA Piper’s AI team has advised, this does not necessarily mean that those implementing AI should see risk management, governance, and the application of effective controls as any less urgent, as AI regulations around the globe will continue to cohere both inside and outside the US.

As Israeli tech companies increasingly expand into the US market with AI-driven products and services, what legal and compliance challenges should they anticipate, particularly around data use, algorithmic transparency, and state-level regulatory fragmentation?

With regard to data use, the evolving application of the fair use defense to use of copyrighted content/data to train various AI-driven products will be important to understand and address, including with respect to sourcing data, use of the data for training, finetuning, grounding, and other uses, as well as guardrails on the outputs to avoid producing materials that may appear substantially similar to training materials. Depending on whether the federal moratorium on state AI regulations passes, there may also be a patchwork of state AI regulations to comply with regarding disclosure of training data and labeling of GenAI outputs, among other requirements.

With regard to algorithmic transparency, regulators at the state and federal levels are pushing for greater clarity on how AI models make decisions, especially when they impact consumers or protected groups. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a federal agency with enforcement authority over unfair or deceptive consumer practices, has issued warnings about “black box” algorithms that lack transparency, emphasizing the need for explainability, and that the lack of transparency could be unlawful under existing regulations. State Attorneys General are likely to take the same position under state consumer protection laws. For that reason, companies should be able to justify and explain AI decisions, particularly when consumers are adversely affected (eg, loan denials, pricing decisions, access to services) and in other sensitive areas (eg, healthcare, hiring, education).

With regard to state-level fragmentation, companies should stay abreast of existing and forthcoming regulations in the states in which they operate. That said, to date the trends across state regulations are fairly consistent, focusing primarily on transparency (consumer protection), unlawful bias and discrimination, publicity rights, and other areas that have a significant impact on individual rights (eg, education, employment, financial services, healthcare, housing, insurance, and legal services).

Beyond regulatory obligations, Israeli companies should also stay abreast of litigation trends if the US Plaintiffs’ lawyers are increasingly targeting AI systems under product liability (and other tort) theories – which may shift the burden to the company to disprove negligence – and consumer protection statutes. And such claims can be brought on behalf of a class of plaintiffs, increasing the cost to defend such litigation.

What place in Israel is at the top of your list to visit?

Tel Aviv is at the top of my list for my next visit to Israel. My last trip to Israel was in 2008 as part of Birthright and it left me with very fond memories of visiting Tzfat (Safed), the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, and the artisans in many shops in Tel Aviv, not to mention all the amazing food. Visiting during my college years was a wonderful experience, but I know I’ll appreciate the culture and history even more now, especially considering how much the world has changed since then. Over the past year, I've had the pleasure of partnering with Jeremy Lustman to advise several Israeli clients on AI licensing and risk mitigation matters. This collaboration has made me eager to visit Tel Aviv again, not only to meet with the DLA Piper team and the wonderful clients I've gotten to know, but also to reconnect with friends in the city.

DLA Piper Israel Group updates

From May 1–4, 2025, Jeremy Lustman and Naomi Maryles participated in DLA Piper’s Americas Conference in Orlando, which brought together colleagues from across North, Central, and South America, as well as several other countries – such as Israel – that are closely connected to the US practice. Jeremy and Naomi led a session about the Israel Group, during which they shared insights on Israel as a global marketplace; showcased the Israeli tech sector; described the evolution, scale, and success of the Israel practice; and outlined our growth strategy, particularly in regard to US–Israel activity. This session provided an opportunity to highlight the strength and resilience of the Israeli ecosystem, publicize business potential, and highlight all that our team has accomplished, especially during these challenging times.

On May 18–19, 2025, Jeremy Lustman attended the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York, which featured influential speakers and panels addressing geopolitics, innovation, business, culture, and technology. During the conference, New York City, represented by Mayor Eric Adams, and the State of Israel, represented by Minister Nir Barkat, signed an agreement creating a joint economic council between the two jurisdictions.

On June 11, 2025, Jeremy Lustman took part in a conference in Rome for DLA Piper’s international Employment leadership, many of whom we frequently work with on behalf of our Israeli clients. It was an opportunity to connect in person and have interactions with several colleagues and friends.

On June 29, 2025, our team came together for an offsite team building activity centered around Asian cuisine. We donned our aprons and got hands-on in the kitchen – chopping, julienning, stir-frying, and steaming a delicious variety of dishes such as spring rolls, bao buns, pad Thai, fish curry, sum tam, fried rice, and more.

Summer internship

Welcome to our summer intern Reed Farkas (TAMID), a junior at University of California, Berkeley majoring in Political Economy. Reed’s summer will include projects, opportunities to meet with clients and colleagues at Israeli law firms, team-building activities, and more.

Professional and client events

On March 31–April 2, 2025, we co-sponsored AMPLIFY: Investor Summit 2025, a high-level event bringing together Chief Investment Officers from US private foundations, Jewish Federations, and Jewish Community donor-advised funds managing assets over USD100 million. The goal of the summit was to support a (fiduciary-aligned) five-percent allocation of invested assets to Israel in 2025. To expedite this strategic allocation, the summit assembled leaders of Israel's most prominent investment vehicles for two days of direct meetings and relationship building with the highly curated group of attendees. Jeremy Lustman spoke about building the DLA Piper Israel practice and the strength of the Israeli market.

On May 22, 2025, we co-sponsored Axis Tel Aviv, marking our 12th consecutive year partnering with Axis Innovation to propel Israeli companies onto the global stage. The event brought together Israeli startups, global investors, and industry leaders to drive change, forge deals, and look forward. Yehudah Gordon introduced a pitching panel featuring startups in the AI space.

On May 25, 2025, we invited friends and colleagues in our building for an informal get-together in honor of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. It was an opportunity to connect in person and nurture important professional relationships. We served cheesecakes from small business Mar Jarz, fruit from Noy Hasadeh, and wine from Tulip winery.

On May 27, 2025, we hosted a US and EU antitrust and competition event in partnership with Israeli law firm Arnon, Tadmor-Levy and the legal community platform GCs for GCs. We welcomed our colleagues Brian J. Boyle (Partner, Deputy Chair, US Antitrust & Competition, Philadelphia and Washington, DC) and Daniel Colgan (Partner, International Head of Competition/Antitrust, Brussels) to Israel. They shared their insights on the evolving landscape of antitrust and merger control. While in Tel Aviv, Brian and Daniel also attended several client meetings, engaging in conversations and exploring new opportunities for collaboration.

Upcoming events

Navigating US Trade Compliance in 2025 Webinar: July 29, 2025

Global Employment Forum with Herzog and the ACC: September 8, 2025

Annual DLA Piper Charity Basketball Tournament: September 16, 2025

CFO Networking Event with English Speaking Network and Edmond De Rothschild: October 10, 2025

Global M&A Forum: Q4

Cybersecurity and AI Event: Q4

Giving back to the community

Corporate social responsibility is one of the guiding principles of our practice, and we are proud to have engaged in the following sponsorships and community activities:

To commemorate Israel’s Memorial Day and celebrate its Independence Day on April 30, 2025 and May 1, 2025 respectively, we supported two vital organizations: The Koby Mandell Foundation, which helps bereaved families rebuild their lives after losing loved ones to terror, and IDF Widows & Orphans Organization, which supports the spouses and children of Israel's fallen heroes.

In May, we supported Operation Ethiopia's fundraising campaign. This grassroots Israeli humanitarian organization is on a mission to improve eyesight for thousands of impoverished men, women, and children in Ethiopia. The team of ophthalmologists and lay volunteers visits Ethiopia multiple times a year to treat people through mobile eyecare clinics, restore sight to blind people with cataract surgery, donate canes to blind children, dispense eyeglasses and medication, screen for eye disease, and more. Jeremy Lustman joined Operation Ethiopia on a visit in November 2024.

For the Shabbat of June 21, 2025, we sponsored kiddush kits for approximately 3,000 soldiers on the front lines. This initiative is led by Jeremy Lustman’s longtime friend, Hillel Kuhr (of Hillel’s Heimish Herring in Shaalavim), in collaboration with National Council of Young Israel. Since October 7, Hillel has been tirelessly delivering Shabbat kiddush kits to thousands of soldiers every week. These kits are filled with kugel, beef jerky, kombucha, herring, crackers, and more.

Recent press

“Immigration to Israel of US lawyers up 50% since war,” Globes, May 6, 2025

“’Feel at Home’: Social Initiatives and Donations,” Walla, June 30, 2025

“’AI Washing’ is the new greenwashing - and Startup Nation should be paying attention,” Calcalist, July 1, 2025