It indicates that the company has an order backlog worth $32 billion, mostly built around airborne lasers for use in asymmetric warfare.<\/p>\n
That number is simply amazing for a country our size and worthy of further exploration.<\/p>\n
A PULS multiple rocket launcher miniature and artillery rockets by Israeli Elbit Systems is exhibited at the DEFEA Defence Exhibition, in Athens, Greece, May 8, 2025. (credit: REUTERS\/LOUIZA VRADI)<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s annual GDP is $720b., which means that Elbit has an order backlog equal to 4.4% of Israel\u2019s GDP. In itself, $32b. is also larger than the GDP of Armenia, Jamaica, Brunei, Lebanon, and the Bahamas, to provide some perspective.<\/p>\n
Founded in 1966 as Elbit Computers Ltd. to build electronic and computer systems, the company has grown into a major defense supplier, with its recent growth aided by the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as a broader European military buildup.<\/p>\n
All of this continues to translate into a growing demand for Israeli-made weapons, electronic warfare systems, and other defense technologies.<\/p>\n
Calcalist noted that the $32b. backlog \u201cgives Elbit an unusually large amount of work already contracted for future years, but it also illustrates the scale of the transformation underway in the defense industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernments are not simply replacing weapons consumed in recent conflicts. They are investing in new capabilities, expanding ammunition stocks, and upgrading military systems designed for increasingly complex battlefields.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, that demand has been only one element of Israel\u2019s industrial growth even during a time of war. There are other indicators of growth as well, illustrated, for example, by the large foreign investment in, and buyouts of, Israeli companies just during this past July, to wit.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s Tencent is in negotiations to acquire SuperPlay<\/a>, a top-performing mobile gaming studio, from Israel\u2019s Playtika for an estimated $1-1.5 billion.<\/p>\n Singapore\u2019s BandLab Technologies acquired Israel\u2019s Aiode, an AI-powered digital music studio, for tens of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n The deal adds Aiode as a third primary platform alongside BandLab and Cakewalk, focusing on ethically sourced, fully licensed audio-to-audio models created in direct collaboration with professional session musicians.<\/p>\n Cisco, headquartered in California, made a $150-200 million strategic investment in Israeli cybersecurity start-up Zafran, extending its total funding significantly.<\/p>\n California\u2019s Cribl acquired Israel\u2019s CardinalOps, an AI-native detection engineering start-up, in a deal estimated to be about $100m. The acquisition expands Cribl\u2019s footprint into security operations (SecOps) and establishes a new office in Tel Aviv as well.<\/p>\n Another California firm, Instacart, acquired Arpalus, an Israeli artificial intelligence and computer vision start-up, for an undisclosed sum estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n The deal marks Instacart\u2019s first acquisition of an Israeli company and aims to boost real-time supermarket shelf intelligence and inventory accuracy.<\/p>\n California\u2019s ServiceNow acquired Israeli start-up ai.work for a reported tens of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n Founded in 2024 by former WalkMe executives, ai.work built an enterprise AI agent platform designed to automate internal service and operational workflows across complex business systems.<\/p>\n Looking into the future<\/p>\n What is really interesting in all of this is that so many countries that have been critical of our activity in Gaza and other locations over the past three years have no hesitation in coming to Israeli companies to buy our technology \u2013 even while they erroneously accuse us of genocide and apartheid.<\/p>\n Clearly, we produce what the world\u2019s governments want even if they disagree with our politics.<\/p>\n