Israel in August 2026: the most important developments in economy
Israel's economy in August 2026 was led by its technology sector. Anthropic was reported to be in talks to buy the Israeli AI startup Decart for $6 billion. The government issued a tender for a national quantum computer and announced plans for an AI push, Israel is preparing rules for robotaxis by 2027, and a former Mossad chief was appointed to lead a US defence technology company. Leaked documents reportedly showed that Elbit was in talks to sell advanced drones to the UAE.
Air travel and consumer trade recovered in places after the Iran war. El Al was reported to be bouncing back while rivals delayed their return, Blue Bird added a fourth weekly Tel Aviv-Amsterdam flight, and United Airlines said it would resume San Francisco-Tel Aviv flights in March 2027. The Chinese carmaker XPeng topped Israeli electric vehicle sales from January to July, and the retailer Sephora is to begin selling in Israel.
Trade pressure grew abroad. Britain was reported to be considering a sanctions regime that would ban trade with Israeli settlements, and on August 26 Andy Burnham said he was poised to ban such trade, which critics fear could amount to a de facto boycott of Israel. On August 17 EU politicians called for sanctions on Minister Ben-Gvir. Colombia resumed coal exports to Israel on August 22, lifting a ban in place since earlier in the year.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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