{"id":423223,"date":"2026-05-03T12:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T12:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/423223\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T12:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T12:08:08","slug":"rd-is-israels-brain-so-why-does-it-develop-manufacture-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/423223\/","title":{"rendered":"R&D is Israel’s brain – so why does it develop, manufacture abroad?"},"content":{"rendered":"

R&D generates significant revenue, but manufacturing capabilities are the real backbone and the truly large source of wealth.<\/p>\n

Israel has built a global reputation on innovation. But while the United States and Europe are investing trillions of dollars<\/a> to bring advanced manufacturing back to their territories, Israel continues to sell ideas and manufacture abroad. This is a strategic miss. R&D is the brain. Manufacturing is the heart.<\/p>\n

Israel excels in algorithms and exits, but we have forgotten a basic principle: the higher you move up the value chain, the greater the profit. The value of intellectual property is orders of magnitude lower than the value of the final product. R&D is a fast engine; manufacturing is a deep, stable engine with irreplaceable national value.<\/p>\n

A country can be brilliant and still vulnerable. Geopolitical crises and supply chain disruptions<\/a> have proven that countries without local manufacturing are overly dependent on others. Israel has experienced this firsthand: dependence on imported ammunition during wartime was a warning sign. The Prime Minister\u2019s call for local production reflects recognition of this dependency.<\/p>\n

Local industry has not declined due to weakness, but because of an unsupportive environment: lack of proper government support, burdensome regulation, high energy costs, and a shortage of technological manpower. The result: factories relocate abroad, industrial zones turn into real estate projects, and manufacturers import because there is no economic incentive to produce locally.<\/p>\n

\"ZuriZuri Dabush, Chairman and Controlling Shareholder of Klil Windows (credit: MORAG BITAN)<\/p>\n

The world has understood this. Israel has not – yet. Tim Cook<\/a> put it simply: advanced manufacturing is a concentration of deep engineering skills, not a commodity. And once such capability disappears, it is difficult to rebuild. Professor Stanley Fischer warned about this a decade ago: an economy that does not manufacture struggles to grow sustainably.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the United States is investing tens of billions through the CHIPS Act, Europe has set a target of 20% industrial share of GDP, and China has been systematically building its manufacturing capabilities for 40 years. The direction is clear: local industrial manufacturing leads to less dependency and greater sovereignty. Israel, at the moment, is moving in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

An opportunity not to be missed<\/p>\n

Israel has world-class technological knowledge and growing global demand for both defense and civilian solutions. If we combine Israel\u2019s intellectual strength with advanced local manufacturing – especially in defense, but not only – we can evolve from a supplier of ideas into a full-scale manufacturing player.<\/p>\n

We have already proven this is possible: in water technologies, cybersecurity, and defense sectors. When there is supportive policy, Israel knows how to win. If multinational companies that establish R&D centers are also required to establish industrial production centers, Israel could take another leap in GDP<\/a> and productivity.<\/p>\n

Advanced industry is not \u201clow-tech.\u201d It is Industry 4.0 – a combination of artificial intelligence, automation, and precision manufacturing.<\/p>\n

To establish efficient industrial manufacturing, three steps are required:<\/p>\n

1. Reintroducing engineering-industrial education in schools.<\/p>\n

2. A multi-year national program to promote advanced industry at a significant scale (tens of billions).<\/p>\n

3. Reducing regulatory burden and energy costs for the industrial sector<\/p>\n

If Israel does not invest now in manufacturing infrastructure, human capital, and a supportive environment, we will find that at the critical moment we have an excellent brain – but no hands to build the future.<\/p>\n

This is no longer just a matter of growth. It is a matter of independence.<\/p>\n

The writer is chairman and controlling shareholder of Klil Windows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"R&D generates significant revenue, but manufacturing capabilities are the real backbone and the truly large source of wealth.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[114,85,1720,46,173439,43,8789,125],"class_list":["post-423223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-business","tag-il","tag-innovation","tag-israel","tag-manufacture","tag-news","tag-research-and-development","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}