Reports: Amazon is Growing its Presence in Israel

Photo: Amazon HQ

According to Israeli business daily The Marker, e-commerce giant Amazon is to join the likes of such companies as Microsoft, Intel, Google, and Apple, and significantly expand their presence in Israel.

As Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week, Israel is only second to only Silicon Valley in the hightech industry, with over 6,000 startups created in the last decade alone.

The Marker claims that Amazon's expansion will see them opening new offices in Herzliya where some 150 Israelis will be employed, and also expand its research and development operations.

Amazon has enlisted local real estate company JLL to find a 3,000 square meter office, and Hadas Makov architectural firm to design the space.

The Algemeiner reports that if they do not find an office space in the area, they'll resort to other neighbourhoods in the Tel Aviv area.

The expansion of Amazon's research and development space in Tel Aviv is apparently in a bid for the company to have better access to Israel's cloud computing and R&D fields, which are spread out throughout the country's central region.

Today, Amazon employs only 30 members of its team located in Ramat Gan. Needless to say, the expansion will significantly increase their presence in Startup Nation.