The legal deposit requirement was part of a British legislation passed in 1924. As per the British mandate, copies were deposited with the director of the department of education and the governor of the district where the book was printed.

In 1953, 30 years later, the mandate was amended and accepted as law in the State of Israel. New organizations were chosen to receive legal deposits, replacing the British institutions that had previously received the deposits during the years of the British Mandate: one copy of every publication was to be deposited at the State Archive, another copy at the Knesset Library, and two copies at the National Library.