What's Happening In The Tech Sector Of Israel Amid Raging War?

Date: October 11, 2023

The recent rise of the war between Israel and Palestine has caused multiple industries to come to a complete halt. Here’s what’s happening in the IT sector of Israel.

The Israeli military is planning a full-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip in response to the recent terror attacks of Hamas. While the army is fortifying its security, the business sector is falling sharply. The tech sector, which is a major contributor to the GDP of Israel, will be impacted the most. The IT industry is responsible for nearly 14% of all jobs in Israel, which might remain vacant due to its recent measure of army recruitment.

A Huge Disruption To Business

Resources may be diverted to work in the army as directed by the Israeli military’s recent statement. It said that the military is going to call up nearly 300,000 reservists, most of whom are currently normal day-to-day civilians. A major chunk of these people work at US-based tech organizations.

The Israeli founder and Chief Executive Officer of ActiveFence, Noam Shwartz, said they are preparing for the war to last for a while. Amid life-threatening situations arising abruptly, businesses are struggling to keep their operations running. But Noam has declared that his company will keep serving its customers, and he, too, expects to return to the Israeli army for military duty.

Tech For Military

A lot of companies are directly tied up with the operations of the military, offering tech support and innovation at scale. These companies will be protected with added security as it will give the Israeli military the needed advantage to win the war.

Tech Employment

Considering the patriotism of Israeli residents, employment and professional growth have taken a backseat priority for now. Israel’s largest private employer, Intel, is closely monitoring the situation on-ground to offer any support whenever needed to its employees. However, it did not reveal if the chip production was affected by the implications of the ongoing war. Intel was the first company to set up operations in Israel owing to its impressive technical knowledge and resource bank. The company said that it was planning to spend about $25 million on a new factory in the southern city of Kiryat Get, which is nearly 42 kilometers away from Gaza.

Most of the events around technology have been canceled, The AI Summit by Nvidia being the most prominent. IBM, Meta, Apple, Google, and Microsoft have offices in Israel, but there is no information on their operations in the current situation.

Israel is one of the most advanced military countries in the world. But it is also a key tech innovation driver globally. The ongoing war will surely impact the balance between prosperity and survival, and the tech sector is at its forefront.