Israel is increasingly looking to work with the “young, energetic” London tech industry as opposed to Silicon Valley, a senior member of its government said today.
Israel’s chief scientist Avi Hasson said his country’s businesses could be attracted to UK, rather than American, tech start-ups because of factors including shorter distances, similar time zones and Britain being in the EU.
Mr Hasson was in London for a series of meetings with Cabinet ministers and UK companies to discuss Israeli technology and building stronger relationships between the two nations. He described Britain’s tech hub as a “pretty unique animal working very effectively” and praised its “young, energetic” firms. “With companies in Israel there’s a desire to make the shift (to working more with the UK) rather than automatically look at the US,” he said.
The high concentration of tech industries in the coastal plain of Israel — known as Silicon Wadi — is considered second only to Silicon Valley.
Mr Hasson said he could foresee link-ups with London over cyber-security, especially considering the prominence of the UK banking sector.
“We are trying to create platforms of collaboration between the governments and discussing ways we can help bring companies together,” he said.
He also pointed to figures from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics which showed that trade between Britain and Israel was at a record high, in spite of calls for a boycott during the Gaza conflict in the summer. Bilateral trade between January and August increased by 28 per cent on the same period last year, meaning trade between the countries is worth £2.5 billion.
