Tel Aviv, Nov. 27 -- An in-depth study by the Ministry of Economy and Industry, conducted in collaboration with the Planning Administration, presented a comprehensive and sharp picture of one of the main barriers to establishing and expanding factories in Israel: long licensing procedures, repeated iterations, and multiple approving agencies that create a significant bottleneck for Israeli industry.

As a result, it takes about a year and a half to issue a building permit for a factory in Israel - more than twice as long as required by law.

Thirty per cent of applications have been in process for over two years, and 11 per cent for over three years.

It takes an average of 2.7 iterations to approve a request, and only 25 per cent are app...