check-il-compatibility

name	check-il-compatibility
description	Check whether an AliExpress product will actually work — and be importable — in Israel. Plug type (Type H), 230V/50Hz mains, dual-voltage vs 110V-only, wireless bands, and restricted-import categories, read off the listing's own specs.

Will This Actually Work in Israel?

Three things kill an AliExpress purchase for an Israeli buyer: it gets taxed, it never arrives, or it arrives and is unusable. find-under-75 and cart-vat-nudge cover the first, ship-options-il the second. This skill covers the third — the item that lands correctly, cheaply and on time, and then cannot be plugged in.

When to use

• Any electrical or electronic item: appliances, chargers, power tools, lighting, heaters, kitchen gear, anything with a plug or a mains adapter
• Anything wireless — WiFi gear, remotes, smart-home devices, radios
• Before buying, and specifically before running find-under-75 on a shortlist — no point optimising the tax position of something that won't run
• When the user asks "will this work here", "does it come with the right plug", "is this 220", "can I even import this"

Inputs

• url (required) — listing URL or item id. Accepts a list.
• sku (optional) — the variant. Plug type is usually a variant, not a listing property — the same item ships US/EU/UK/AU plugs under one listing. Checking the listing without checking the variant is the classic miss.

The Israeli electrical facts

Property	Israel
Mains voltage	230 V
Frequency	50 Hz
Socket	Type H (SI 32 / IS 16A-1971) — unique to Israel and the Palestinian territories

What fits a modern Israeli socket:

• Type C (Europlug, two round 4 mm pins) — fits. Israeli sockets have accepted round pins since the standard was revised in 1989. This is the common good case: most Chinese sellers' "EU plug" option is Type C.
• Type H — fits, obviously. Rare on AliExpress; if offered, take it.
• Type E / F (Schuko) — does not fit. Larger body and side earth clips. "EU plug" on a listing sometimes means Schuko rather than Europlug, so check the variant image, not just the label.
• Type A / B (US flat blades) — does not fit.
• Type G (UK) / Type I (AU/CN) — does not fit.

Voltage is the separate question, and the more expensive one to get wrong. A plug adapter changes the shape, not the voltage:

• Listed 100–240 V (dual voltage) → fine on 230 V. Most modern chargers, laptop bricks and USB power supplies are.
• Listed 220 V (Chinese domestic) → fine on 230 V.
• Listed 110 V / 120 V only → will not work on Israeli mains. Needs a step-down transformer sized to the load, which for anything with a heating element or a motor costs more than the item. Treat as a fail, not a caveat. Plugging it in directly destroys it, sometimes loudly.
• No voltage stated → unknown, not safe. Ask the seller or treat as a fail on anything mains-powered.

50 Hz matters for synchronous motors and mains-timed clocks. A 60 Hz-only motor runs slow or hot on 50 Hz. Rare, but check on motorised goods.

Method

Chrome first, locale handshake first — $CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/reference/browser.md. Ship-to must be Israel or the variant list you see may not be the one offered here.

1. Read the specification table. Look for Plug Type, Voltage, Power, Frequency, Certification, Origin. Extract as text:

   [...document.querySelectorAll('[class*="specification"] li, [class*="spec"] li')]
     .map(el => el.innerText.trim()).filter(Boolean);
   

   Selectors here are unverified — see the (U) note in $CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/reference/selectors.md. Fall back to a text search of the page body for Plug|Voltage|תקע|מתח|V\b|Hz.

2. Enumerate plug variants. Read the variant selector for plug options (US / EU / UK / AU / IL) and note which is default — the default is frequently US, and it is what ships if the user doesn't change it.

3. Check the images. Where the spec table is silent, the plug is usually visible in a variant thumbnail, and the rating plate is often photographed. Use read_page on the image block.

4. Check IL reviews. il-reviews-show is the ground truth — an Israeli buyer saying "the plug fit" outranks any spec table. Zero IL reviews on an electrical item is itself a finding.

5. Never infer from price or category. If the listing doesn't say, the answer is unknown, and unknown on mains voltage is a fail.

Restricted and awkward imports

Beyond electrics, some categories are restricted, need a permit, or are routinely held. Rules change — verify at runtime rather than trusting this list, and treat it as "flag for the user to check", never as a clearance decision:

• Drones / UAVs — permit territory
• Radio transmitters, signal jammers, boosters, CB gear — Ministry of Communications
• Laser pointers above low power classes
• E-cigarettes / vaping products
• Medications, supplements, medical devices
• Seeds, plants, soil, animal products
• Knives and anything weapon-adjacent
• Baby and child equipment (car seats especially) subject to Israeli standards

For consumer personal import in ordinary quantities, formal Israeli standards certification (תקן ישראלי / SI mark) generally isn't demanded at the border the way it is for commercial import — but the goods still aren't certified, which matters for insurance and for anything hard-wired. Say this plainly; don't overstate the risk and don't wave it away.

Output format

Product: <title>                          item <id>
Route: claude-in-chrome                   ship-to: Israel (confirmed)

VERDICT: ✅ works in Israel  |  ⚠️ works with a caveat  |  ❌ will not work  |  ❓ unknown

Electrical:
  voltage:    100–240 V        ✅ dual voltage, fine on 230 V
  frequency:  50/60 Hz         ✅
  plug:       EU (Type C)      ✅ fits Israeli Type H socket
              ↳ variant "EU" must be selected — listing default is US (Type A) ❌
  wattage:    65 W

Category flags:
  • none — ordinary consumer electronics

Evidence:
  spec table: "Plug Type: EU / Voltage: 100-240V"
  image: rating plate legible, 100-240V~50/60Hz
  IL reviews: 3, none mention plug problems

⚠ Action: select the **EU** variant before adding to cart. The default US variant
  will arrive with a plug that does not fit and is not adaptable without a step-down
  check — the item is dual-voltage, so a plug adapter alone would suffice, but the
  EU variant is free and simpler.

Next: `ship-options-il` · `find-under-75` · `il-reviews-show`

Verdict rules

Situation	Verdict
Dual voltage + a Type C or H variant available	✅
Dual voltage, only US/UK/AU plug	⚠️ — works with a plug adapter; say so and say adapter, not converter
220/230 V, plug fits	✅
110 V only	❌ — needs a transformer; usually not worth it
Voltage not stated, mains-powered	❓ → treat as ❌ for buying purposes
Restricted category	⚠️ regardless of the electrics — flag for the user to check

Out of scope

• Ruling on legality of an import. This flags categories to check; it is not customs advice and must not be presented as clearance.
• Electrical safety certification of a specific unit.
• Anything non-electrical without a category flag — most of AliExpress needs no check.

Validation checklist

1. Voltage and plug read from the listing's own text or images, never inferred.
2. Variant-level plug options enumerated, and the default variant named — a listing-level "EU plug" claim is not enough.
3. Unknowns reported as ❓, never resolved by assumption.
4. Verdict matches the rules table.
5. Where the verdict is ⚠️ or ❌, the concrete action is stated (select variant X / buy an adapter / don't buy).
6. Any restricted-category flag is framed as "verify", not as a decision.