Every so often, a report lands in my inbox at exactly the right time. Recently, it was a new study by Earth & Beyond Ventures and Deloitte Catalyst on the state of Israel’s semiconductor industry. I had just written about why Deep Tech must be Israel’s strategic play for long-term defense and security. And here, suddenly, was the missing piece I had not touched on: semiconductors.

Good timing, I thought to myself. Perfect timing, actually.

Because if deep tech is the engine of the future, then semiconductors are its pistons. They are the unseen backbone of everything – from AI chips and defense systems to medical devices and green energy. No semiconductors, no Start-Up Nation. And increasingly, no Security Nation either.

The story begins in the 1970s, when Intel and IBM planted their R&D flags in Israel. It was a bold bet at the time on a small country battling isolation and economic uncertainty. But that bet paid off spectacularly. What started as a handful of engineers in Haifa has blossomed into one of the world’s most dynamic semiconductor ecosystems.

Today, there are around 200 semiconductor companies in Israel, employing more than 45,000 people. Over 70 start-ups have already been acquired for a combined $44 billion. Names like Mellanox (now part of Nvidia), Mobileye, Habana Labs (acquired by Intel), and Annapurna Labs (acquired by Amazon) are now global symbols of Israeli ingenuity. Each deal is a financial milestone, a feather in Israel’s innovation cap, and a testament to the country’s technical prowess.

These are not isolated successes. Together, Israeli semiconductor start-ups have raised $5.5 billion, spanning everything from AI processors and optical computing to quantum chips and energy........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)