Israel's Innovation Authority is pushing for a national quantum-computing research and development center, a move CEO Dror Bin says can't wait. The goal isn't to build a complete quantum computer alone, but to create a shared lab where Israeli firms—already leaders in specific components like controllers and processors—can integrate their technologies into systems that will compete globally. Bin said quantum computing was once seen as too futuristic to arrive in this generation, but that "in the last few years, there was really an acceleration in the development of such computers."
Israeli Firms Already Leading in Key Components
Bin said some Israeli companies are already category leaders in components of future quantum computers, and that "something like 10% of the overall private investment in quantum computing companies was made in Israel, in those early-stage companies" in 2025. The challenge is integration. Some firms develop processors, others build algorithms or controllers. The proposed center would place those capabilities in a shared environment, creating what he called "the full stack of a quantum computer based on Israeli technology." He said the center is "not in order to create a computer, but rather to create an R&D lab in which different components of hardware and software can be tested, can be integrated, can be benchmarked to see that everything really works together."
Bin said quantum computing differs from classical systems, which process bits in either a zero or one state, while quantum systems use quantum bits "in various positions," enabling vastly more powerful calculations. "The thesis is that things that probably would take a regular computer many years, hundreds of years, thousands of years to solve, a quantum computer would be able to solve very quickly," he said. He expects usable quantum applications before 2030 and said, "The Israeli high tech must be also in the forefront of the quantum computing innovation wave."
Israel's Path: Components, Not Full Systems
Bin said the United States, with companies including IBM, Google, Microsoft and Amazon, has set much of the pace in quantum development, while China, Canada, Britain, Germany, Japan and Australia are also investing heavily. Israel's path, he said, won't necessarily be measured by whether it produces an entire quantum computer on its own. "Throughout the history of Israeli high tech, Israeli entrepreneurs and investors and also the state investments were much lower than other countries, but yet with very good results," he said. Asked about Israel's ability to become one of the world's top five quantum players, Bin said, "Israel really is an outlier in terms of the ratio between private and public investments, much more private investments."
He said, "We want to see the entrepreneurs and the investors take the lead, and the government only invest in order to help them grow their companies." He added that Israel doesn't necessarily need the full stack of a quantum computer, but "for sure, Israeli companies are going to be part of the leading computers in some categories," citing controllers as one example. "Israeli companies are going to be part of the leaders of this new technology," he said.
Regional Cooperation and AI's Energy Problem
Bin also discussed artificial intelligence and regional cooperation, saying AI requires a lot of technology, which Israel excels in, but also lots of land and energy for data centers, which Israel doesn't have. "We are a tiny country with a limited amount of energy. And this is, for me, a great opportunity. The countries around us have lots of energy and lots of land," he said. "If we can connect the dots and create this synergy that data centers are built in our surrounding countries and technology comes from here, and then we build something together, this could be a very good way forward."
He said the overlap of AI and quantum technologies could widen the horizon further. "Once quantum computers are there, think about the combination of AI training and AI inference on quantum computers," he said. "Everything AI can do today, at the end of the decade, only our imagination can try to figure out what will be this combination and what outcome it will bring."
Regulation and the Risk of Disruption
Bin said governments and regulators must be involved because "in each technology, there are many opportunities and many risks." He compared the moment to the Industrial Revolution, saying the steam engine initially produced severe social consequences before regulation improved standards. "Those technologies are developing so fast that we cannot wait a few decades and see what happens," he said. "Regulators should be deeply involved and try to hedge against the risks of those technologies."
He said quantum computing depends heavily on universities and scientific research, because the companies now growing in Israel began with scientists or groups of scientists leaving academia to develop new systems. He also said, "The most important thing that you learn in the university is how to learn. It's not necessarily the knowledge that you gain, but rather the way you gain it." Bin said he recently taught himself how to use AI to develop code and was "very happy with the result."
He said, "People need to adjust, need to learn new skills, new capabilities. AI is going to change everything. Many people are going to lose their jobs." But he added that those who reskill can find new opportunities. On AI use, he said, "It's very easy to use AI. If you are not scared of it and you just jump to the water and start playing with it, you see it's quite easy to use it." He said users need to shift their paradigm and think about their business or job differently. "It's a disruption time," he said. "It's the first time ever that we are not investing in just technology. We are inventing intelligence which is going to be smarter than humans."
Bin said users must question AI output: "Is that true? Is that correct? Should I ask the question in a different way?" He said, "This is part of the skills that you need to develop in order to really get out of AI the best you can get."
Strong Shekel, Startup Challenges
The Innovation Authority is also responding to the impact of a strong Israeli shekel on startups that raise capital or earn revenue in foreign currencies while paying many expenses in shekels. Bin said, "At the end of the day, a strong shekel means that the Israeli economy is very strong. And this is a good thing," but added, "No, there are challenges. But it's hard for me to use the term crisis." He linked the shekel's strength largely to high-tech investment, saying 2025 saw "more than $100 billion that poured into the Israeli ecosystem, either for early-stage funding or for M&As."
He said a startup that raised money for 24 months could suddenly have only 18 months if costs are in shekels and the funds were raised in dollars. "So, the profit is gone. Sometimes you'll get to the red line," he said. The authority plans a special fund to extend startups' operational runway. "The last thing we want to see is a whole cohort of great startups suffering from something that they had nothing to do with," he said.
BlueTech and Coastal Energy
In tandem with the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, the Israel Innovation Authority announced a 6 million shekel program for BlueTech energy. Bin said Israel's coastline is an underused national asset and that "there is some potential there for technologies to harvest energy, to store energy, either from the waves or from the wind or from maybe even biological origins." He said the program seeks proposals from researchers willing to turn scientific ideas into commercial solutions. "We want to see, again, scientists coming out of their labs, proposing ideas how to leverage this asset of the country," he said. "Those are the things that we would like to finance."
Bin's Tenure and the October 8 Crisis
Bin said he's preparing to step down after five years at the helm of the Israel Innovation Authority, years that included COVID-19, war and intense pressure on the innovation ecosystem. "Five years, and … not easy years. It was like a roller coaster in those five years," he said. He said he believes he's fulfilled his role and that "now it's time for me to move on and to have someone continue the work after me." Bin, a veteran high-tech executive and former CEO of RAD Data Communications, hasn't yet decided on his next position. "It's something that I'm still contemplating on, to decide what excites me to do next," he said. "This position of the CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority is probably one of the most interesting positions in Israel," he said. "So, it will be difficult to find something more interesting than that." He added, "I believe that people need to do things that excite them. This is what I'm looking for now."
Reflecting on the most difficult moment of his tenure, Bin said it came on October 8, the day after the war began. He said startups suddenly lost half their staff to military reserve duty, volunteering or childcare because the education system was shut down. Companies couldn't send sales and marketing teams abroad because flights were unavailable, investors couldn't enter the country for due diligence, and startups in the middle of fundraising faced frozen investment decisions. "The challenge was crazy, first of all, for the entrepreneurs, the CEOs, the investors," he said.
The authority responded with a fast-track funding channel for companies in the middle of raising money, requiring private investors to contribute alongside public funds. "We injected back then a few hundred millions of shekels into those companies," he said. "By that, I believe we saved something like 250 companies, which are probably the diamonds of this cohort of companies that will create the next waves of growth for Israeli equity, I think."
Why This Matters:
Israel's quantum computing push reflects a broader reality: the country's tech sector remains resilient despite the war's disruptions, but it's also adapting to a changed regional and economic landscape. The emphasis on component leadership rather than full-system ownership is pragmatic—Israel's small size and limited public funding mean it can't compete with U.S. or Chinese state-backed programs dollar-for-dollar. But the model of private-sector-led innovation, with government support for integration and testing, has worked before. The proposal for regional cooperation on AI infrastructure is also notable—it suggests that normalization agreements could evolve into genuine economic partnerships, with Israel providing technology and neighboring countries providing energy and land. That's a vision of interdependence that could stabilize the region economically even as political tensions persist. The strong shekel and the October 8 crisis both underscore the fragility of a tech ecosystem dependent on global capital flows and reserve military duty. Bin's intervention to save 250 startups may have prevented a lost generation of companies, but the structural vulnerabilities remain.