Israel Launches National AI Program Aiming for Global Tech Power

Israel has formally launched its National Artificial Intelligence Program, a five-year strategy meant to turn the country into one of the world's leading AI powers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the program alongside the head of the National AI Directorate, Brig. Gen. (res.) Erez Askal, at a joint press conference with representatives from government, the military, academia and private industry.

What Netanyahu Announced

Netanyahu framed the program as a shift comparable to the industrial revolution. He stressed that artificial intelligence will touch every resident of the country, their children and future generations, and that nations failing to keep pace with its development will be left behind.

We will use our greatest advantage, Israeli human capital. We will make Israel a global AI power, just as we did with cybersecurity - Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel

Netanyahu identified two main goals for the program: making Israel a global power in artificial intelligence, and using the technology to drive economic growth and citizens' prosperity. The program formally operates under government resolution number 4255.

A Lived AI Philosophy, Not a Model Race

Unlike the United States or China, Israel does not intend to compete in building the largest language models. The program document, prepared by the National AI Directorate operating under the Prime Minister's Office, holds that the country's edge will come from being the first state to fully weave artificial intelligence into everyday public life, from healthcare through education to government services.

Askal spoke of Israel's shift from a startup nation model to a full stack nation, a country building a complete technology stack from chips to applications, rather than just individual tech companies.

Meeting this challenge requires a broad national effort: government, defense, academia and private industry working together - Erez Askal, Head of the National AI Directorate

At the core of the program is a national compute base targeting at least 100,000 advanced AI accelerators, with the first phase calling for the deployment of 5,000 units. Israel also wants to build its own quantum computer, pursue a semiconductor fab using 5-nanometer or smaller technology, and prepare a feasibility study for placing AI compute infrastructure in low Earth orbit.

The program will establish a National Institute for AI Applications to coordinate high-impact social deployments, plus five regional acceleration hubs embedded within existing centers of scientific excellence. It will also create AI safety labs developed jointly with Israel's National Cyber Directorate, along with a National Ethics Council responsible for the transparency of algorithms used in the public sector.

A Budget Short of the Need

Behind the ambitious goals lies uncertain funding. Askal told a Knesset committee in July that full implementation of the program requires an annual budget of around 5 billion shekels, about $1.66 billion. Meanwhile, the AI Directorate's 2026 budget stands at 3 billion shekels, two-thirds less than the estimated need.

That gap raises questions about how quickly the announcements from the press conference can actually be delivered. Similar investment programs in Israel have historically suffered delays tied to instability in the state budget, and without a lasting increase in funding, plans for the quantum computer or the chip fab could slip.

What It Means for Poland and Europe

Israel joins a narrow group of countries, including the United States, China and the United Arab Emirates, that treat artificial intelligence as a matter of state strategy on par with energy or defense, rather than just an economic sector. For Poland, which is still building its own AI oversight and competing for a place in the EU's AI gigafactory program, Israel's model points to an alternative path: a smaller country can gain an edge not by building its own large language models, but by rapidly and broadly deploying existing technology across government, healthcare and education.

Israel's experience in cybersecurity, which Netanyahu cited as the model to replicate in AI, grew out of a close partnership between the military, academia and the private tech sector. The program aims to repeat that pattern, which could offer inspiration for countries seeking their own niche in the global AI race rather than competing head-on with the largest AI labs in the United States and China.