Due to health, humanitarian and religious considerations, the State of Israel has designated specific plots for use as burial grounds. The 1971 Law for Jewish Religious Services established that the Minister of Religious Affairs would collaborate with certain other bodies in overseeing the implementation of general principles relating to funerals and burial. The National Insurance Law of 1995 entrusted government agencies with determining the financial aspects of burial.

The accepted practice in Israel is that every person is buried according to his religious affiliation: Jews according to Jewish tradition and members of other religions according to their beliefs. Jews are buried by chevra kadishas, religious burial societies responsible for most Jewish burial plots across the country. They maintain the cemeteries, prepare burial ceremonies, and perform funerals and burials. The chevra kadishas also have unofficial duties, which include the burial of body parts in cases of accidents, John Doe burials, and the identification of bodies.

In 1996, a law was enacted that allowed every Israeli citizen to choose whether to be buried ‘according to the law of Moses and Israel’ – by a chevra kadisha – or in a civil ceremony – by a private burial society. The law mandates allocation of alternative burial plots in 21 places throughout the country. In practice, aside from limited plots in the cemetery in Be’er Sheva, in existence since 1998, these plots are still in planning stages. Many kibbutzim and moshavim have their own burial plots where burials are carried out. Military burial ceremonies in military plots are carried out according to the 1950 Military Cemeteries Law and they are always (in the case of Jews) performed ‘according to the Law of Moses and Israel.’