Political safety in the design community (Part 3)

Apple's Historic and Strategic Partnership with Israel: A Four-Decade Timeline of Innovation and Investment

Jul 29, 2025

Terrorists and extremist movements have increasingly weaponized medical concerns and health narratives as tools of psychological manipulation, recruitment, and control. This form of information warfare—sometimes called “biological terrorism of fear” or “health-based propaganda”—targets public trust in medical systems to sow chaos and advance extremist agendas.

‘Brand Therapy’ skool groups, are bootcamps for radicalising moderates using ideological dogwhistles while branding attacks on Jews as “beautiful” using ‘beauty-first’ hermeneutics (rather than engineering and design security) to rebrand Apple’s historic and meaningful engineering relationships with Israelis as ‘ideologically impure’ rather than a matter of political safety for the world’s design communities.

Israel is the only country that is not allowed to win a war.

Jews are the only people on the planet who are
not allowed to defend themselves after attack.

Apple's Historical Timeline in Israel (1985-2025): Major Milestones, Acquisitions, and Technological Developments

Apple's relationship with Israel represents one of the most significant strategic partnerships between a global technology corporation and a national innovation ecosystem. Over four decades, this collaboration has evolved from basic market entry to deep technological integration, resulting in breakthrough innovations that have fundamentally shaped Apple's product portfolio and competitive advantage in the global technology landscape.

Apple's Strategic Partnership with Israel: A Four-Decade Timeline of Innovation and Investment

Apple's Historical Timeline in Israel (1985-2025): Major Milestones, Acquisitions, and Technological Developments

Early Market Entry and Foundation Building (1985-2007)

Apple's initial foray into the Israeli market began in 1985, when the company first established its presence in the country. However, it wasn't until 1991 that Apple began meaningful operations in Israel, recognizing the country's emerging potential as a technology hub. During this foundational period, Apple was primarily focused on market penetration rather than leveraging Israel's engineering capabilities.

The real catalyst for Apple's deeper engagement with Israeli technology came with the appointment of Johny Srouji in 2008. Srouji, an Arab Israeli engineer from Haifa who held degrees from the Technion, joined Apple to lead the development of the A4 chip—Apple's first internally designed system-on-chip. His appointment marked a pivotal moment in Apple's recognition of Israeli engineering talent and would prove instrumental in establishing the company's future R&D presence in the region.

Strategic R&D Expansion and First Major Acquisition (2011-2012)

The period from 2011 to 2012 marked Apple's transformation from a market participant to a strategic technology partner in Israel. In late 2011, under the leadership of Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, Apple made the unprecedented decision to establish its first research and development center outside of California. This decision was directly influenced by Srouji's advocacy and former Motorola executive Bob Mansfield's extensive experience working with Israeli engineers.

Apple's commitment to Israeli innovation became concrete in December 2011 with its acquisition of Anobit Technologies for approximately $400-500 million Anobit, a Herzliya-based company, had developed advanced flash memory controllers that were already being used in Apple's iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air products. The acquisition brought 200 employees into Apple's ecosystem, with three-quarters of them being engineers. This acquisition served as the foundation for Apple's Israeli operations and demonstrated the company's recognition that Israeli engineering talent could contribute significantly to its core technologies.

The Apple R&D center officially opened in March 2012, representing the company's first technology development facility outside its Cupertino headquarters. Aharon Aharon, a veteran of IBM's Haifa development center and a former Technion lecturer, was appointed to lead this groundbreaking initiative.

Expanding Technological Capabilities Through Strategic Acquisitions (2013-2017)

Apple's acquisition strategy in Israel intensified significantly during the mid-2010s, focusing on companies that could provide breakthrough technologies for future product development. In November 2013, Apple acquired PrimeSensefor approximately $345-350 million. PrimeSense had developed the motion-sensing technology that powered Microsoft's Xbox Kinect system, specializing in 3D sensors that could translate body motion into computer input.This acquisition proved prescient, as PrimeSense's depth-sensing technology would later become foundational to Apple's Face ID system.

The acquisition spree continued in 2015 with Apple's purchase of LinX Imaging for an estimated $20-25 million.LinX had developed innovative multi-aperture camera technology designed to improve smartphone photography quality, addressing the persistent challenge of producing high-quality images from increasingly thin mobile devices.The company's algorithms and hardware solutions enabled smartphones to capture SLR-quality photographs, directly addressing one of Apple's key competitive challenges in the smartphone camera market.

Apple's fourth major Israeli acquisition came in February 2017 with the purchase of RealFace for several million dollars. RealFace, founded in 2014, had developed facial recognition software that could authenticate users through biometric login systems, effectively eliminating the need for traditional passwords. The company's artificial intelligence-powered facial recognition technology would prove crucial for Apple's development of advanced authentication systems.

Major Technological Breakthroughs and Infrastructure Expansion (2015-2020)

By 2015, Apple's Israeli operations had grown substantially, prompting a visit from CEO Tim Cook to inaugurate a new R&D facility in Herzliya. During this visit, Cook declared that Apple's Herzliya center was the company's "second-largest research and development office in the world," employing over 700 engineers. Cook emphasized that "Apple is in Israel because the engineering talent here is incredible. You guys are incredibly important to everything that we do and to all the products that we build".

The impact of Israeli engineering became evident in 2016 when reports emerged that Apple was using its Herzliya office to develop what would become the iPhone. The facility, which had grown to approximately 800 employees, was working on hardware development including chips, storage, cameras, and wireless technologies. This marked a significant evolution in Apple's Israeli operations, transitioning from acquisition-based growth to organic innovation development.

A major breakthrough occurred in 2017 with the launch of the iPhone X and its revolutionary Face ID technology. Israeli engineers had played a central role in developing this technology, which combined hardware from PrimeSense's 3D sensing capabilities with RealFace's facial recognition algorithms. The Face ID system used a TrueDepth camera that projected over 30,000 invisible infrared dots to create precise facial maps, delivering authentication accuracy of 1 in 1,000,000 compared to Touch ID's 1 in 50,000. Industry analysis confirmed that this facial recognition technology originated directly from Apple's Israeli acquisitions and R&D centers.

Silicon Innovation and Advanced Chip Development (2020-2025)

The culmination of Apple's Israeli engineering investment became apparent in 2020 with the announcement of the M1 chip, Apple's first internally designed processor for Mac computers. Industry sources indicated that Israeli R&D teams were likely behind much of the chip's development, with Johny Srouji leading the initiative. The M1 represented a revolutionary advancement, delivering up to 3.5 times faster processing, six times faster graphics processing, and 15 times faster machine learning capabilities compared to previous Intel-based systems.

Srouji's role became even more prominent as he was promoted to senior vice president of hardware technologies, making him one of only ten executives in Apple's highest administrative ranks. By 2022, he revealed that Israeli teams had played central roles in developing the premium versions of Apple's M1 processor, including the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. These advanced processors contained up to 57 billion transistors and were developed through collaboration between Israeli teams and Apple's global engineering network.

Apple's commitment to Israeli innovation continued with the opening of a third R&D center in Jerusalem in July 2022. This facility focuses specifically on processor development for Mac computers, indicating Apple's long-term strategic commitment to Israeli engineering capabilities. The Jerusalem center represents Apple's recognition that Israeli teams have become integral to its silicon development strategy.

Recent Developments and Continued Expansion (2025)

Apple's most recent acquisition in Israel occurred in early 2025 with the purchase of TrueMeeting, a 3D avatar startup previously known as CommonGround AI. This acquisition, approved by Israeli competition authorities in January 2025, strengthens Apple's capabilities in real-time 3D technology and demonstrates the company's continued investment in Israeli innovation.

Currently, Apple employs approximately 2,000 engineers across its Israeli facilities in Herzliya, Haifa, and Jerusalem. The company also operates a smaller R&D center in Rawabi in the Palestinian Authority, employing 60 engineers and demonstrating Apple's commitment to broader regional technological development.

Conclusion

Apple's four-decade relationship with Israel has evolved from basic market entry to strategic technological partnership, fundamentally transforming both organizations. Through strategic acquisitions totaling over $1 billion and the establishment of world-class R&D facilities, Apple has successfully integrated Israeli engineering excellence into its core product development processes. The innovations emerging from this partnership—including Face ID technology, advanced camera systems, flash memory optimization, and revolutionary silicon chips—have become defining features of Apple's competitive advantage in the global technology market. This relationship exemplifies how multinational corporations can successfully leverage national innovation ecosystems to drive breakthrough technological advancement while simultaneously contributing to regional economic development and technological capacity building.