Basically these are the requirements of the international patenting system,
including Novelty, Inventive step, Utility and Ownership of the invention.

Israeli patent law is similar in this aspect to American or British laws; a
significant difference is that the prior art includes the still unpublished
patent applications in Israel.

From our experience, it can happen; we were in the midst of an accelerated
examination, and the examiner cited a yet unpublished patent application.
Examiners of course have access to all the applications, whether published
or not.

Between 3 and 5 years. Some applications take longer.
It is possible to accelerate the examination of some applications; we got a
patent granted in less than one year, including the 3 months publication period.

Patent applications are not published 18 months from filing; actually the
applications are kept confidential at the Patent Office until allowed for patent.

Yes, this is correct - with some qualifiers. Quoting the Patents Law:
" 121.(a)  If a patented invention (hereafter:  later invention) cannot be
exploited without infringing an invention, for which the patent application
date was earlier (hereafter: earlier invention), then the Registrar may, if so
requested by the patent holder of the later invention, grant him a license to
exploit the earlier invention to the extent necessary for the exploitation of
the later invention, on condition that the later invention serves a different
industrial purpose than the earlier one or that it makes a considerable
advance over the earlier one.
(b)  If the earlier and the later invention serve the same industrial purpose,
then a license under subsection (a) shall be granted on condition that the
owner of the later invention grant a similar license to the owner of the
earlier invention if he so requests.
(c)  In the case of a patent application for which priority was claimed under
section 10(a), the date of the previous application, within the meaning of
section 10(a), shall be deemed the patent application date for purposes of
this section."

* ADDRESS: Applicants must provide an address in Israel for correspondence
* REPRESENTATION: by a patent agent or an attorney registered to practice in Israel.
* Valid PCT application designating Israel.
* Specification in English.
* Payment of fees.
* Formal documents as required.
* TIME LIMIT FOR ENTERING NATIONAL PHASE: 30 months from the earliest priority.