Israel’s Transportation Minister Miri Regev signalled on Thursday that Tesla‘s Full Self-Driving software is nearing activation in the country, responding to an Elon Musk post promoting the system with “Coming soon…”.
The Minister’s post is the strongest public indication yet that the supervised autonomous driving trial approved by the Israeli government in February is close to going live for customers.
The post, published on X this Thursday, quote-tweeted Musk’s “Try Tesla self-driving!” message.
Last week, the Minister had praised the company for enabling free Supercharging at all Israeli stations during the ongoing conflict.
“Well done @elonmusk @Tesla for opening ALL Superchargers in Israel for free charging during the war,” she wrote.
February Approval
Israel’s Ministry of Transportation approved Tesla to begin a supervised autonomous driving trial on public roads on February 1.
Under the programme, Tesla vehicles can operate using FSD (Supervised) while a human driver remains behind the wheel and ready to intervene.
The approval followed a professional review led by Director General Moshe Ben Zaken, attended by Tesla Israel representative Itay Raved along with officials from the Vehicle Division and the Tax Authority.
According to Israel Daily News, the approval also followed talks held in May 2025 between Regev and Tesla representatives in Germany, during which Tesla VP for EMEA Joe Ward agreed to visit Israel to explore the possibility of establishing a smart transportation hub.
“Promoting trials in advanced vehicle technologies is part of the policy I am leading — creating an advanced ecosystem and smart regulation that enable innovation, safety, and growth,” Regev said at the time.
Ben Zaken said the ministry was working to adapt regulations and remove barriers, noting that Israel already serves as a preferred testing ground for leading global automakers.
In September 2025, Ben Zaken suggested Israel could host a Tesla robotaxi pilot, potentially making it one of the first countries outside the United States to do so.
Israel’s Auto Market
The potential FSD activation comes as Chinese automakers deepen their grip on Israel’s car market.
In February, Chinese brands claimed 41.4% of the country’s total sales — their highest share on record, according to official data from the Vehicle Importers Association.
Israel’s total new car market rose 10.6% year-on-year to 27,214 units.
Chery‘s dual-brand Omoda and Jaecoo operation surged to the top of the overall sales ranking for the first time, while BYD saw sales jump more than 76%.
XPeng posted a 20% decline and Nio failed to register any EVs during the month. March sales data is expected next week.
Tesla registered 117 vehicles in the market, according to official data. A year earlier, the Elon Musk-led company had recorded only six units.
Netherlands Approval Expected April 10
Earlier this week, the company announced it had completed the final vehicle testing phase for FSD (Supervised) with the Dutch vehicle authority RDW, submitting all documentation required for regulatory approval.
The RDW communicated an expected approval date of April 10, a three-week slip from a March 20 target that Musk had previously cited.
Tesla said it had accumulated 1.6 million kilometres of testing across 17 European countries, including more than 13,000 customer test ride-alongs.
“Following the Netherlands’ approval, European countries will be able to recognize this approval nationally,” Tesla wrote, adding that it anticipates “a possible EU-wide approval during the summer.”
At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Musk said he hoped for approval “next month” in both Europe and China.
However, neither materialised on that timeline.
FSD Outside North America
FSD (Supervised) is currently available to customers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea.
Australia and New Zealand became the first right-hand-drive markets in September 2025. South Korea followed approximately two months later.
China’s rollout remains partial. Tesla has deployed early versions of the software to select vehicles but has not received full nationwide approval, despite Musk’s repeated optimism about an imminent launch.
Israel would join a growing list of markets where the software is either live or in advanced regulatory stages.
FSD (Supervised) requires the driver to remain attentive and ready to take control at all times — it is not the unsupervised, fully autonomous system Tesla operates in its Austin robotaxi service.
NHTSA Probe
The international expansion push comes as Tesla faces heightened regulatory scrutiny in its domestic market.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recently escalated its existing probe into FSD to an engineering analysis, covering more than 3 million vehicles produced from 2023 to 2025.
The investigation will focus on potential failures in FSD’s ability to detect when the system is degrading or not performing properly.
The probe was triggered by crashes and near-misses where the system failed to recognise driver inattention.
Last year, the NHTSA opened a separate investigation into FSD-equipped vehicles running red lights and not respecting speed limits under the software’s ‘Mad Max’ driving mode.
As of press time, Tesla shares were trading 1.5% lower at $379.80.
