Israeli innovations

Long before the startup nation, the Jewish people gave the world one of its most enduring ethical frameworks: the Ten Commandments. According to Jewish tradition, Shavuot marks the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, including these ten short principles that would go on to shape moral thinking for generations. Their influence extended far beyond Judaism. Ideas about respecting parents, protecting life, telling the truth, respecting property and recognising limits on human

Today, athletes train very differently to what they did in the past. A lot of that shift has come from technology that allows athletes to study and improve their performance in ways that were once impossible. PlaySight is an Israeli sports technology that started in 2010 with a simple idea: use cameras and software to record training sessions and turn them into something athletes could analyse and learn from. The system places multiple cameras around a court or field. It trac

When we saw the hologram of Princess Leia in the first Star Wars film, it seemed like true science fiction. But that was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. In 2008, Israeli company RealView Imaging was founded, developing true 3D holograms that doctors can see and interact with in real time. The technology is already being used in hospitals, including in Israel, where doctors can view a patient’s heart as a floating image during procedures. It has been used i

Despite Israel's small size, it has become one of the most successful television industries in the world. In recent years, Hollywood has repeatedly turned to Israel as a source of ideas. Shows like In Treatment, Homeland, and Euphoria all began as Israeli series. Others, like Fauda and Shtisel, were watched globally in their original form. Why are Israeli TV series so successful? What is the secret? In Israel, writers and creators work with smaller budgets and tighter con

FakeReporter is an Israeli organisation, founded in 2020, that tracks online disinformation. It identifies fake accounts, coordinated campaigns and misleading narratives, often in real time and particularly during periods of conflict. Its work focuses on something increasingly difficult in today’s environment, separating what is real from what is not. Information now moves quickly. It is shared widely, often without context or verification. False claims can spread just as eas

Since 2012, the annually published World Happiness Report measures how people around the world rate their own lives. Israel is consistently near the top. Over the past decade, it has ranked in the top 20 every year, and in recent years has been in or around the top 5. Since October 7, Israel hasn't ranked lower than eigth out of 147 countries. It’s not what most people would expect. The countries that usually sit at the very top tend to be the Nordic countries; stable, wealth

What if you could have meat without the animal? That’s the idea behind Aleph Farms. Founded in Israel in 2017, the company grows beef directly from animal cells. The result is real meat, not a plant substitute, produced in a controlled environment. Instead of raising entire animals, Aleph Farms recreates the natural process that grows muscle tissue, giving cells the conditions they need to develop into meat. The aim is to reduce the environmental impact of meat producti

IsraAID is an independent Israeli humanitarian organisation, not a government agency, that responds to disasters around the world. Its teams provide emergency medical care, clean water, mental health support and long term recovery programs in places affected by war, earthquakes and other crises. There are many large international aid organisations, and others that specialise in rapid response. IsraAID stands out because it operates somewhere in between. It deploys quick

Yad Sarah is an Israeli organisation that provides medical equipment and support to people in need. It was founded in 1976 and has grown into one of the largest volunteer organisations in Israel, with thousands of volunteers operating across more than a hundred branches nationwide. It lends items such as wheelchairs, oxygen machines and hospital beds, helping people recover at home and maintain a level of independence. While similar services exist in other countries, th

One of the most important challenges in modern technology is cybersecurity, an area that Israel excells in. As companies move their systems to the cloud, protecting data in that space is critical. Wiz is an Israeli cybersecurity company founded in 2020. Its software scans cloud systems and quickly identifies security risks. Instead of requiring complex installation, the platform analyses systems across services such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

ZAKA is an Israeli volunteer emergency response organisation founded in 1995 to bring order, dignity, and compassion to the most devastating scenes of terror and disaster. Its mission is grounded in a central principle of Jewish law: the dead must be sanctified, and every part of a person’s body must be returned for burial. This obligation, chesed shel emet , (true kindness), is considered one of the highest mitzvot because it is given to someone who can never repay it. ZAK

Founded in Israel in 2015 by designer Pablo Kaplan, Wheelchairs of Hope makes bright, sturdy wheelchairs for kids who need them most. Each one costs under 100 dollars to build and is tough enough to roll over dirt roads and rocky ground. Working with UNICEF and the World Health Organization, the team has delivered thousands of chairs across Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. For many kids, it is their first real chance to go to school, play with friends, or move ar

Rummikub was invented in the 1940s by Ephraim Hertzano, a Romanian Jew who emigrated to Israel after the war. Banned from playing card games under the Communist regime, he created his own version using small tiles instead. From his kitchen table in Tel Aviv, Hertzano began selling sets door to door. What started as a family pastime soon spread across Israel, and later the world. By the 1970s, Rummikub had become one of the best selling games in America, winning Game of the

In the Negev desert, Israel has built one of the world’s most striking renewable-energy projects: the Ashalim Solar Tower. Construction began in 2014, turning a stretch of empty desert into a vast field of possibility. Over more than three square kilometres, around 50,000 computer-controlled mirrors now track the sun throughout the day and direct its light toward a central tower. The concentrated heat is then converted into steam and finally into electricity. The tower has

After the Gulf War, when Iraqi Scud missiles hit Israeli cities in 1991, Israel changed its building code. From 1993, every new home had to include a reinforced security room known as a mamad. It looks like any other room, but it has: concrete walls reinforced ceiling steel blast door sealed window designed to protect against missile fragments and chemical threats. The room is built into the structure of the home itself. It is used every day as a regular room, perhaps a bedr

The Michal Sela Forum was founded in 2020 with a clear goal: zero domestic violence murders each year. Named in memory of Michal Sela, who was murdered by her partner, the forum focuses on prevention. The forum runs Safe@Home hackathons, in which engineers, designers and security experts come together to build practical tools to stop violence before it escalates. A hackathon is a short, intensive event where teams design and prototype solutions to a defined problem. One proj

David’s Sling is the middle layer of Israel’s multi-levelmissile defence system. It was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in partnership with the United States Missile Defense Agency. The program began in the mid-2000s in response to the growing threat of longer-range and precision missiles. After years of development and testing, in 2017 it became operational with the IDF. It is designed to intercept medium to long range rockets, cruise missiles, advanced dron

Waves Audio was founded in Israel in 1992 and remains Israeli-owned and led by its original founders. It develops professional audio software, known as plugins, used in recording studios around the world. These tools shape how music is mixed and mastered. Waves has been, and continues to be, a staple in global music production. If you listen to a modern album, a film soundtrack or a live broadcast, there is a strong chance Waves software helped shape the final sound. Wa

Teva sandals didn’t invent sandals, and they didn’t invent footwear for water. What they did was rethink what a sandal could be used for. Teva was founded in Israel in the mid-1980s by a rafting guide who wanted a shoe that could handle water, rocks, heat, and long days on foot, without slipping off or falling apart. The result was a simple but durable design: secure straps, supportive soles, and comfort that lasted beyond the beach. Teva turned the water sandal from some

Waze began with a simple idea: people on the road know what is actually happening better than any central authority. What began as the project "FreeMap Israel" in 2006, Waze changed how navigation works by trusting people on the road to report what was actually happening, rather than relying only on centrally updated maps. Drivers share real-time information about accidents, road closures, hazards, and congestion, and that information is instantly reflected for everyone else