In a rare move, Israel’s Tax Authority has announced a public auction for the sale of gold bars and gold ounces on a large scale, following their seizure by the authority’s customs investigators in two recent smuggling cases. The auction comes amid a significant global rise in the price of gold.
The auction will offer more than 65 kilograms of gold, including 60 gold bars and 185 ounces of gold. The items have been verified as authentic and non-counterfeit by the Standards Institution of Israel.
The gold was seized in two separate incidents. In December 2022, customs inspectors at the Allenby Bridge border crossing discovered 20 gold bars weighing a total of 20 kilograms, cleverly hidden in a concealed compartment of a Jordanian Nissan Patrol. The driver, a Jordanian national with a tourist visa, was attempting to smuggle the gold, which was valued at the time at 4 million shekels. Had it been declared, the applicable tax would have amounted to 700,000 shekels.
In January 2025, a passenger arriving from Dubai was caught at Ben-Gurion Airport trying to smuggle 45.5 kilograms of gold in coins and ounces, with an estimated value of 8 million shekels. He attempted to pass through the airport’s green channel without declaring the items.
Given the significant quantity of gold seized, the Tax Authority has decided to make the confiscated goods available to the general public through an open auction.
The deadline for submitting bids is December 8. Proposals must be placed in a designated tender box at the Tax Authority headquarters on Bank of Israel Street in Jerusalem. Each bidder is required to include a bank guarantee check from an Israeli bank for 10% of their total offer in order to participate. Full tender documents are available starting today on the website of the Government Procurement Administration under the Accountant General’s Office.