Foreign investments in Israel saw an increase in the first half of 2024, even amid ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon and tensions with Iran.
According to Israel’s finance ministry, overseas trade deals between January and June reached $11.8 billion, a significant rise from $7.3 billion during the same period in 2023 (excluding a one-time $15 billion investment from Intel Corporation).
Shmuel Abramzon, chief economist at Israel’s finance ministry, commented, “The data for 2024 shows an increasing trend in foreign investment transactions to Israel, and we expect the improvement in the security and political environment to support this trend moving forward.” This positive shift comes after a decline in foreign investments in 2023, which had dropped to $17.9 billion, the lowest since 2019.
The dip in 2023 was more significant than the 20% global decline reported by the OECD, largely due to the political unrest caused by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reforms and the ongoing war following the October 7 Hamas attacks.
In 2023, the US was the leading source of foreign investments, contributing $24 billion, followed by France ($3.7 billion), India ($1.2 billion), and the UK ($1.1 billion). The largest foreign investment deals in 2023 included Intel’s $15 billion investment in its Kiryat Gat wafer fabrication site, the $3.6 billion merger between Imperva Inc. and Thales SA, and a $1.2 billion investment by India’s Adani Group in the port of Haifa. Nearly half of these investments were focused on the semiconductor and chip industries, with significant contributions from IT and life sciences sectors.
