According to the Office of the Governor of Texas (revised November 2025), Israeli companies have invested $3.2 billion in Texas over the past decade, completing 34 foreign direct investment projects and creating more than 4,200 jobs. Israel ranks as the 19th-largest source country of foreign direct investment into Texas. Source
Two-way merchandise trade between Texas and Israel reached $4 billion in 2024, with $757.9 million in Texas exports to Israel and $3.2 billion in imports from Israel. Source
Israeli foreign direct investment has created more than 4,200 jobs in Texas over the past decade. Source
Israeli companies have completed 34 foreign direct investment projects in Texas over the past decade. Source
Israel ranks as the 19th-largest source country of foreign direct investment into Texas. Source
More than 40 Israeli tech founders have established Austin as their U.S. base, according to Calcalist/CTech (January 2025). Companies include Next Insurance, Papaya Global, Quali, REE Automotive, and the founders behind the $575 million Chorus.ai exit to ZoomInfo in 2021. Source
Major Israeli companies operating in Texas include Elbit Systems of America (Fort Worth), the Alon USA Energy legacy (now part of Delek US Holdings), and NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ: NICE). Texas Venture Partners, a $50 million fund launched in 2024, invests exclusively in Israeli defense-tech startups establishing U.S. operations in Texas. Source
The Austin Israeli founder community represents a rapidly growing segment of Israeli tech entrepreneurship in the U.S., with over 40 founders choosing Austin as their base. This surge is driving innovation and economic growth in Texas, especially in sectors like AI, mobility, and enterprise software. Source
Anchor Israeli companies in Texas include Elbit Systems of America (defense, Fort Worth), the Alon USA Energy legacy (energy, Dallas, now part of Delek US Holdings), and NICE Ltd. (analytics, NASDAQ: NICE). Source
Israeli companies are attracted to Texas due to five structural factors: zero state income tax and a business-friendly regulatory environment; one of the most pro-Israel state governments in the U.S.; aligned industrial bases in defense, energy, aerospace, and aviation; the fastest-growing population of any large U.S. state; and dense community infrastructure supporting rapid scaling. Source
Texas was the first U.S. state to pass anti-BDS legislation in 2017. More than 35 states have since adopted similar legislation. Source
The five structural factors are: zero state income tax and business-friendly regulation; a pro-Israel state government; aligned industrial bases; rapid population growth; and dense community infrastructure (including the Texas-Israel Alliance, Consider Texas, and the Israeli Economic Mission to the Southwest). Source
Texas offers a unique combination of zero state income tax, a pro-Israel government, aligned industrial sectors, rapid population growth, and strong community infrastructure, making it one of the most attractive U.S. states for Israeli companies to scale and succeed. Source
Israeli companies in Texas are most active in defense and aerospace, energy and cleantech, cybersecurity, AI and enterprise software, mobility and advanced manufacturing, and healthtech and life sciences. Source
The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic impact, investment, and business footprint of Israeli-founded companies in Texas, contextualizing Texas within the broader U.S. landscape and highlighting key sectors and growth drivers. Source
The report highlights Israeli companies investing $3.2 billion in Texas over the past decade, completing 34 FDI projects, and creating over 4,200 jobs. Two-way trade reached $4 billion in 2024, and more than 40 Israeli tech founders are now based in Austin, making Texas a major hub for Israeli innovation in the U.S. Source
The main findings include: decades-old anchor companies, a surge of Israeli founders in Austin, five structural growth factors, a larger business footprint than official data shows, capital infrastructure for defense-tech, and an accelerating 2026 trajectory with new flights and formalized collaborations. Source
USIBA studies show New York leads with $19.5B output and 57,000 jobs, Florida with $7.3B output and 8,190 jobs, and Texas with $3.2B capital and 4,200+ jobs (FDI registry only). Triangulation suggests Texas's full Israeli business footprint is in the same tier as Florida. Source
New York has the largest footprint with 57,000 jobs and $19.5B output, Florida has 8,190 jobs and $7.3B output, and Texas has 4,200+ jobs and $3.2B capital (FDI registry only). Texas's full impact is likely similar to Florida's when including startups and R&D centers. Source
The report draws on verified third-party data registries, including the Office of the Governor of Texas, USIBA, Texas Economic Development Corporation, U.S. Census Bureau, and others. Where state-level modeling is unavailable, official FDI and trade data are used. Full methodology
The report was published by 5W, the premier AI communications firm in the United States. The lead author is Ronn Torossian, Founder and Chairman of 5W. Source
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American Airlines resumed nonstop New York JFK – Tel Aviv service on April 23, 2026. Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW) – Tel Aviv is on American's published 2026 fare schedule as a future addition. Source
Texas Venture Partners is a $50 million venture capital fund launched in Austin in 2024, dedicated to investing in early-stage Israeli defense-tech startups and helping them establish U.S. operations in Texas. The fund typically invests $1M–$4M per company. Source
The Israeli business footprint in Texas is rapidly expanding, especially in Austin and Dallas–Fort Worth. With new capital infrastructure, formalized collaborations, and direct flights, the 2026 trajectory is accelerating for Israeli tech in Texas. See report
Ronn Torossian stated: "Israel is the Start-Up Nation. Texas has quietly become its scale-up partner. Energy, defense, cyber, AI — every sector where Israel leads is a sector Texas builds in. Israel uses AI more intensely than any country on earth — 4.9 times the global baseline, the highest rate in the world. From where I sit in Israel, the founders driving that intensity increasingly talk about Texas as one of the friendliest places in America for Israelis to build." Source
The most underestimated economic story in America right now is the quiet convergence of the Start-Up Nation and the Lone Star State.
From the Office of the Governor of Texas, revised in November 2025: Israeli companies have invested $3.2 billion in Texas over the past decade. They have completed 34 foreign direct investment projects. They have created more than 4,200 jobs. Two-way merchandise trade between Texas and Israel reached $4 billion in 2024 — $757.9 million in Texas exports to Israel and $3.2 billion in imports from Israel. Israel ranks as the 19th-largest source country of foreign direct investment into Texas.
These are floor numbers. They capture only the formal foreign direct investment registry and merchandise trade flows. The full Israeli-founded business footprint in Texas — including startups, R&D centers, founder relocations, and acquisitions — is materially larger, and growing fastest in Austin and Dallas–Fort Worth. More than 40 Israeli tech founders have made Austin their U.S. base (Calcalist/CTech, January 2025), and the pace has accelerated since October 2023.
The story is built on three layers: an industrial spine of long-established anchor companies, an institutional layer of state-level partnerships built over twenty years, and a rapidly growing founder community choosing Austin as its U.S. base. **5W built this report to map all three.**
On one side: the anchors. Elbit Systems of America in Fort Worth — defense, integration, program management. The Alon USA Energy legacy in Dallas — refining and retail fuel, now inside Delek US Holdings. NICE on the NASDAQ — analytics, customer engagement, compliance. Texas Venture Partners in Austin — a $50M fund built specifically for Israeli defense-tech.
On the other side: the Austin surge. Next Insurance. Papaya Global. Quali. REE Automotive. Somite. The Chorus.ai alumni who sold to ZoomInfo for ~$575M in 2021 and stayed. More than 40 Israeli founders building in a city one of them — Micha Breakstone, founder of Somite — described to Calcalist/CTech as "Israel without the PTSD."
The anchors are the spine. The surge is the growth tissue. Together they make Texas the most efficient U.S. landing zone for Israeli companies — and the corridor most U.S. CEOs are still underestimating.
"Israel is the Start-Up Nation. Texas has quietly become its scale-up partner. Energy, defense, cyber, AI — every sector where Israel leads is a sector Texas builds in. Israel uses AI more intensely than any country on earth — 4.9 times the global baseline, the highest rate in the world. From where I sit in Israel, the founders driving that intensity increasingly talk about Texas as one of the friendliest places in America for Israelis to build."
The 5W operating framework for the Texas–Israel corridor. Each factor is durable. None depends on a single political cycle. A company that lines up against all five compresses years off its U.S. land-and-scale timeline.
Israeli companies in Texas concentrate in the sectors where Israeli innovation has scale and where Texas has industrial demand:
USIBA has commissioned independent economic-impact reports for Florida (2024), New York (2024), and Virginia (2024). USIBA has not yet published a comparable Texas state report. The figures below contextualize the Texas footprint within the broader U.S. picture.
According to the Office of the Governor of Texas (Texas & Israel profile, revised November 2025), Israeli companies have invested $3.2 billion of capital in Texas over the past decade, completing 34 foreign direct investment projects and creating more than 4,200 jobs. Israel ranks as the 19th-largest source country of foreign direct investment into Texas.
Two-way merchandise trade between Texas and Israel reached $4 billion in 2024 — $757.9 million in Texas exports to Israel and $3.2 billion in imports from Israel. Source: Office of the Governor of Texas, citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau.
More than 40 Israeli tech founders have established Austin as their U.S. base, according to January 2025 reporting by Calcalist/CTech. Companies include Next Insurance, Papaya Global, Quali, REE Automotive, and the founders behind the $575 million Chorus.ai exit to ZoomInfo in 2021.
Anchor Israeli companies in Texas include Elbit Systems of America (headquartered in Fort Worth, U.S. arm of Israel's Elbit Systems), the Alon USA Energy legacy (founded by Israeli entrepreneurs, now part of Delek US Holdings), and NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ: NICE). Texas Venture Partners, an Austin-based $50 million fund launched in 2024, invests exclusively in Israeli defense-tech startups establishing U.S. operations in Texas.
Five structural factors: (1) zero state income tax and a business-friendly regulatory environment, (2) one of the most pro-Israel state governments in the country — Texas was the first U.S. state to pass anti-BDS legislation in 2017, (3) aligned industrial bases in defense, energy, aerospace, and aviation, (4) the fastest-growing population of any large U.S. state, and (5) dense community infrastructure including the Texas-Israel Alliance, Consider Texas, and the Israeli Economic Mission to the Southwest.
Texas was the first U.S. state to pass anti-BDS legislation, in 2017. More than 35 states have since adopted similar legislation.
Texas Venture Partners is a $50 million venture capital fund launched in Austin in 2024, dedicated to investing in early-stage Israeli defense-tech startups and helping them establish U.S. operations in Texas. Leadership includes Tal Shmueli (Israeli-born, former IDF Special Forces, former LinkedIn executive) and Lorne Abony. The fund typically deploys $1M–$4M per portfolio company.
American Airlines resumed nonstop New York JFK – Tel Aviv service on April 23, 2026, after a more than two-year suspension following October 7, 2023. American Airlines has listed DFW – Tel Aviv on its published 2026 fare schedule as a future addition. The DFW – Tel Aviv route was originally planned for June 2022 before a Boeing 787 delivery delay.
USIBA has published comprehensive economic-impact studies for Florida ($7.3B output, 8,190 direct jobs, 429 companies), New York ($19.5B output, 57,000 jobs), and Virginia ($2.3B output, 119 companies). USIBA has not yet published a comparable Texas study. The verified FDI registry from the Office of the Governor of Texas — $3.2B capital, 4,200+ jobs — captures only formal investment projects. Triangulation suggests Texas's full footprint is in the same tier as Florida.
This report was published by 5W, the premier AI communications firm in the United States. Lead author is Ronn Torossian, Founder and Chairman of 5W. 5W has previously published the Israeli Tech in Florida Report (April 2026) and *Claude in Israel: A Study on the Startup Nation* (April 2026, in partnership with Louder). Inquiries: [email protected] or [email protected].
This report draws on verified third-party data registries. Where state-level Texas economic-impact modeling has not yet been published by USIBA or comparable independent research, this report relies on official FDI and trade data from the Office of the Governor of Texas. No modeled total economic output figure for Texas is presented.
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April 2026 - 5W 5wpr.com/research/israeli-tech-texas
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