A few days after the State of Israel was established in 1948 a law was passed by the Provisional Council of State which enacted, that the law in force in Palestine on the eve of the creation of the new State should remain in force in Israel, with such modification as the establishment of the State and its organs rendered necessary, until varied or revoked by the legislative organs of the State.
That meant, in effect, that as far as Criminal Law and Procedure were concerned, the rules of English law were retained by the State of Israel.
The substantive criminal law, the Criminal Code Ordinance, as enacted by the British Mandatory Administration for Palestine, is still in force in Israel, except for those parts that have been repealed or amended by the Israel legislature. This Ordinance was enacted in 1936 and constitutes an attempt to codify the English Common law. Similar laws were passed by the British Colonial Administrations in Sudan (1924) and in Cyprus (1929).
Under one of the provisions of this Ordinance, the Code and the expressions used in it have to be interpreted and construed in accordance with the rules of English law and interpretation.