Business | Under fire

Can Israel’s mighty tech industry withstand a wider war?

Its resilience is being tested

Israeli Air Force drone pilots stand beside a Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle at Palmachim Airbase in Palmachim, Israel.
Can it keep flying?Photograph: Getty Images
|DUBAI

Soon after Hamas attacked on October 7th last year, around a third of workers at Elsight, an Israeli maker of drone communications systems, were called up to fight in Gaza. A similar exodus took place across Israel’s tech sector, which accounts for over half of the country’s exports, a fifth of GDP—and a fifth of the reservists in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

Explore more

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Under fire”

From the October 12th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Pat Gelsinger, chief executive officer of Intel Corp., holds an artificial intelligence processor

Intel’s troubles deepen, as its boss makes an abrupt exit

Pat Gelsinger’s surprise departure poses a dilemma for Donald Trump

Food packaging with "Notpla Coating" is pictured at Notpla.

Could seaweed replace plastic packaging?

Companies are experimenting with new ways to reduce plastic waste


A sequoiq tree with a metal detector scanning around the Silicon valley and California.

Has Sequoia Capital outgrown its business model?

Venture capital’s hardiest perennial gets back to its roots


On stupid rules and quick wins

Why every boss can benefit from asking employees what most infuriates them

Will the trouble ever end for Volkswagen and its rivals?

From strikes to Trump tariffs, calamities abound