Intel to Expand Israel Presence With Billions of Additional Investments, Finance Minister Claims

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said on Thursday that he expected the American semiconductor giant Intel to expand its presence in Israel by investing additional billions of dollars.

“Yesterday I had a conversation with Intel representatives – they were at the Finance Ministry. Intel is going to invest billions of dollars in Israel. This is a decision that was taken after a year-and-a-half of discussions,” Kahlon told a Haifa conference organized by Erel Margalit, the venture capitalist and former Knesset member.

Kahlon didn’t say how much Intel would invest or in what, but sources said it would be in the area of $4 billion. He said the investment program would be getting underway in the next several weeks.

Intel is the largest employer in Israel’s high-tech sector, with approximately 11,000 people on its payroll working in research and development centers and a giant chip-fabrication plant in Kiryat Gat. It also has a long history of buying local technology companies, most notably last year’s $15.3 billion purchase of auto-tech company Mobileye.

The company is also one of Israel’s biggest exporters, with its exports of goods and services reaching $3.6 billion last year.