The new office buildings being built in Israel are excellent by any standard, including a global standard. The population challenge is found in another industry altogether, the Hi-Tech industry.

At a high level, investments in high-tech in Israel are divided between investments in startups and investments by global companies in developing and increasing the presence in Israel. Both currently have enormous difficulty.

In the global giants Microsoft, Nvidia, Salesforce, Google, Amazon and the like there are discussions about the future in the world and specifically regarding Israel. There are usually no Israelis present in these discussions, the most senior of them (Israelis) sit 4-5 ranks below the CEO and there is almost no one to represent Israel and be able to influence. In addition, Israel is not a cheap place to do development, Israel is very expensive, so almost all these companies have stopped recruiting or are recruiting small recruitments in Israel.

Methodical timeout. Would you take a significant amount of money today and invest in a company in Ukraine? This is how the world currently sees investments in Israel, a huge risk, and therefore we see almost zero investments in startups.

The solution in my opinion is that Israeli institutions and foundations will invest in Israel, that they will show solidarity and believe, that they will strive. Unfortunately, this is not the case now.

Beyond the uncertainty of when the war will end, an equally acute question arises, what will happen in the future with the military reserves service. About 20 to 25 percent of the workforce in the companies perform two or three months of reserve duty per year. This figure is equivalent to a death blow to high-tech companies and, to say the least, does not help the industry.

On the more optimistic side, a mass of high-tech people will not leave Israel as many think. It is not easy for various reasons including that there is nowhere realy to go. The only places are maybe Silicon Valley and a bit of New York. The cost of living there is crazy, and life is very competitive and lonely.

So, let's hope that the defense industries together with the exponentially growing cyber industry will be able to provide solutions at the moment and "carry" the tech until the rage passes, things will return to their course, and we will see the buildings lit up and full as in 2022.

A subsidiary of HAMAT GROUP LTD is selling its rights in the land it owns in Hamilton, New Jersey, USA, for $3 million.

A subsidiary of ASHTROM PROPERTIES LTD is negotiating the purchase of an office building in England (21,000 Sq. M) for £83 million.