The Israel Internet Association began in 1994 as a group of Internet experts operating within the framework of the Information Processing Association of Israel (IPAI). Its purpose was to support the development and integration of the Internet in Israel by the founding generation of Israel’s Internet community, foremost among them staff members of IUCC (the Inter-University Computation Center).
In 1995, the Israel Internet Association joined the international Internet Society (ISOC) as its third chapter worldwide, leading to the use of the organization’s abbreviated name ISOC-IL
The Israel Internet Association was officially registered as a non-profit organization in March 1997 and assumed responsibility for most non-academic Internet-related activities previously managed by IUCC.
In 1998, the Association received authorization from Jon Postel, regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Internet, to transfer management of Israel’s country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) .il from IUCC to the Association. The approval was granted under the auspices of IANA, which was under the umbrella of ICANN, the international body responsible for the allocation of Internet names and addresses.
In 1999, the Association introduced a comprehensive new set of registration rules, including a legal framework defining the relationships among the various stakeholders in the domain registration industry. The new framework also established the world’s first expedited domain dispute resolution mechanism, which received its first petition in June 1999 and issued its first decision in September of the same year. The mechanism, now called IL-DRP, continues to operate today.
In 2000, the Association launched a new online domain registration system. The domain registration rules define the structure of the namespace, determine permissible domain names, establish the validity and rights associated with domain names, and provide mechanisms for rejecting registrations.
In 2006, the registry began to issue accreditation for authorized registrars providing registration services to end users, thereby opening the Israeli domain registration system to accredited registrars and adopting the “registry–registrar” model commonly used by registries around the world. In 2016, the Association ceased to provide direct registration and renewal services to end users.
Since 2010, the Association has worked to enable a Hebrew-language national domain namespace by improving the DNS system to allow the use of non-Latin characters in domain names (IDN – Internationalized Domain Names). As a first step, Hebrew domain registration under the .il namespace became available in December 2010. In 2012, the Association initiated the process of obtaining a Hebrew country-code top-level domain for Israel.
Following a public survey conducted in Israel, an application was submitted for the Hebrew domain suffix ‘יל.’. In 2018, the request was rejected by IANA after the Academy of the Hebrew Language determined that the proposed suffix was not a correct Hebrew representation of the country’s name.
After years of work, on May 19, 2020, the Israel Internet Association received approval from ICANN, the international organization responsible for assigning Internet names and addresses, recognizing “ישראל.” as Israel’s Hebrew country-code top-level domain. This milestone enabled fully Hebrew domain names, written entirely from right to left, including the extension itself.
In November 2022, the Israel Internet Association officially launched the new Hebrew domain namespace, enabling the public in Israel to register fully Hebrew domain names for the first time.
The Israel Internet Association began as a group of Internet experts operating within the framework of the Information Processing Association of Israel (IPAI). Its purpose was to support the development and integration of the Internet in Israel by the founding generation of Israel’s Internet community, foremost among them staff members of IUCC (the Inter-University Computation Center). Until the Association’s establishment, most activities related to the regulation and coordination of Internet matters in Israel were conducted through IUCC under the auspices of “ILAN,” the academic network operated by the Council for Higher Education. As Internet use expanded beyond academia and began spreading among businesses and the general public, operational, legal, and commercial challenges emerged that required the establishment of an independent body capable of providing leadership and guiding the continued development of the Internet in Israel. The Association was officially registered as a non-profit organization in March 1997 and assumed responsibility for the vast majority of the non-academic Internet-related activity previously managed by IUCC.
In 1998, the Association received authorization from Jon Postel, regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Internet, to transfer management of Israel’s country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) .il from IUCC to the Association. The approval was granted under the auspices of IANA, which was under the umbrella of ICANN, the international body responsible for the allocation of Internet names and addresses.
In 1999, the Association introduced a comprehensive new set of registration rules, including a legal framework defining the relationships among the various stakeholders in the domain registration industry. The new framework also established the world’s first expedited domain dispute resolution mechanism, which received its first petition in June 1999 and issued its first decision in September of the same year. The mechanism, now called IL-DRP, continues to operate today. In 2000, the Association launched a new online domain registration system. The domain registration rules define the structure of the namespace, determine permissible domain names, establish the validity and rights associated with domain names, and provide mechanisms for rejecting registrations. In May of 2006, the registry announced its intention to open the Israeli domain registration system to accredited registrars and adopt the registry-registrar model commonly used by registries around the world. The Association began issuing accreditation for registrars providing services to domain name registrants. The purpose of the new model was to improve the service provided to domain name registrants by encouraging competition among service providers. In 2016, the Association further strengthened this working model by discontinuing its own direct registration and renewal services to end users, allowing registrants to register their domains through accredited registrars only.
Since 2010, the Association has worked to enable a Hebrew-language namespace based on improvements to the DNS system allowing the use of non-Latin characters in domain names (IDN – Internationalized Domain Names). As a first step, Hebrew domain registration under the .il namespace became available in December 2010, including extensions such as .co.il, .org.il, .ac.il. In 2012, the Association initiated the process of obtaining a Hebrew country-code top-level domain for Israel under the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process. Following a public survey conducted by the Association in Israel, an application was submitted for the Hebrew suffix ‘יל.’. In 2018, the request was rejected by IANA after the Academy of the Hebrew Language determined that the proposed suffix was not the correct Hebrew representation of the country’s name.
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Open in new tab After years of work on the initiative, on May 19, 2020, the Israel Internet Association received approval from ICANN, the international organization responsible for assigning Internet names and addresses, recognizing “ישראל.” as Israel’s Hebrew country-code top-level domain. The outcome of the process led by the Association established representation for the Hebrew language as the language of the State of Israel on the global Internet – with a Hebrew equivalent to .il, allowing domain names to be written entirely in Hebrew, from right to left, including the extension itself..
In preparation for the launch of the fully Hebrew namespace under the ישראל. extension (for example: כולנו.ישראל), it was decided in 2020 to discontinue new Hebrew domain registrations under the .il extension (for example: איגודהאינטרנט.org.il). On January 14, 2021, IANA approved the Association’s appointment as the delegated manager of the Hebrew top-level domain ישראל., and the authority to manage the new IDN was formally delegated to the Israel Internet Association. In November 2022, the Israel Internet Association officially launched the new Hebrew namespace, enabling the public in Israel to register fully Hebrew domain names for the first time.
From our founding in 1994 to the present day, the Israel Internet Association (ISOC-IL) has continued to evolve alongside the Internet itself. Learn more about who we are, what we do, and the role we play in Israel’s Internet ecosystem:About ISOC-IL |