Venture Capital Collaboration with Israel
Introduction
Silicon Valley venture capitalists are material collaborators with Israel, and in the genocide of Palestinians. This collaboration includes weapons development, production and use, the exchange of venture capital funding, mutual investment in military and surveillance startups, and a profound relationship with Israeli military and intelligence.
In the ongoing genocide, Silicon Valley venture capital stands militarily, financially, ideologically and publicly with Israel.
Israel is already a technological powerhouse, and its tech sector is positioned to grow even further, because of the genocide: it has accelerated the development and testing of military and intelligence startups, brought more foreign capital into the industry, and secured relationships with global venture capital firms.
According to Startup Nation Central, an Israeli startup tracker,
"In 2024, Israel solidified its position as a global scale-up powerhouse. Despite ongoing war and geopolitical tensions, the tech ecosystem achieved remarkable milestones—unexpected funding levels, high-value M&A deals, and stellar performance by public companies...
Israel’s High-Tech Sector is Thriving Against the Odds. The Israeli tech ecosystem, with a GDP share double that of the U.S. tech sector, led Israel’s economic growth with a 2.2% increase in high-tech GDP (Q1–Q3 2024), while the overall economy contracted by 1.5%. Israeli tech companies raised over $12 billion in 2024, marking a 27% year-over-year increase... Multinational corporations increased M&A activity in Israel, including several high-value deals, while their private investments showed steady performance throughout 2024...
2024 marked Israel’s strongest year for acquisition-driven exits, with total event values approaching record highs... Acquisitions by multinationals with R&D and innovation operations in Israel reached new heights, further emphasizing the country’s significance as a hub for global technology and innovation."
Israel, its tech sector, and Silicon Valley venture capitalists are genocide profiteers. The rise of Israel as a technocratic state provides an explicit model for venture capitalists to develop their own sovereign nation: the Network State.
Public Support for Genocide
In the immediate wake of October 7th, venture capitalists mobilized in support of Israel.
First launched in October of 2023, over 800 venture capitalists have signed the “Venture Capital Community Statement of Support for Israel", stating:
“Israel has been an enduring partner to the global innovation ecosystem, fostering groundbreaking technological advancements and startup innovation. The nation's contribution to the world in terms of technology, research, and entrepreneurship is invaluable, and we hold deep respect for its unwavering commitment to progress…
In the spirit of peace and unity, we encourage the global venture community to support and engage with Israeli startups, entrepreneurs, and investors as they navigate through these challenging times. We believe in a brighter and more prosperous future for the region. We will continue to enable the talented entrepreneurs and startups in Israel and abroad to continue their vital work in shaping a better future for all.”
It was signed by key venture firms primarily from the US and Israel, and at the heart of technological power. Signers include Almeda Ventures, Altitude Ventures, Apollo Projects (Sam Altman’s fund), Bain Capital Ventures, Bessemer, Blumberg, General Catalyst, Gotham Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, NFX, Not Boring Capital, Vintage Investment Partners and 8VC.
Palantir, the Peter Thiel and CIA-backed intelligence company with offices in Tel Aviv, took out a full page ad in the New York Times on October 15th, 2023, stating “Palantir Stands With Israel.”
In December 2023, 70 US venture capitalists, and tech executives from their portfolios went on delegation to Israel to “pledge support for the high-tech sector”.
The support for Israel extended to a major campaign on social media, led by the venture capital firms most involved in the production of weapons startups. The head of Lux Capital has called the Palestinians under genocidal aggression “savage animals”: “Shame disgrace condemnation on these savage animals and any who support them celebrating this inhumanity. The Palestinian people are held hostage by Hamas and Iranian backed terrorists.” A venture capitalist from Sequoia, in firm support of the genocide, has called the Palestinians “barbarians at the gate”: “Just so you understand why Israelis have been so vigilant in the past… … it was living with knowledge that there were barbarians at the gates”. A venture capitalist from Founders Fund, Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm, stoked the genocide, agitating for the US to declare war on Palestine and asking, “Why is a foreign ‘government’ killing at least 22 Americans not an Act of War against the US too?”.
Zionism and unqualified support for Israel from venture capitalists has continued even as the death count of Palestinian children grows; nearly 19,000 children have been murdered by Israel since October 7th 2023.
Investments
Israel funds many U.S. based venture capital firms. Israeli investor firm Vintage Investment Partners funds Andreessen Horowitz, which has played a central role in the build-out of weapons startups. Andreessen Horowitz is an investor in Toka, an Israeli “cyber defense startup”, that features a rash of Israeli war criminals, with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in a key leadership position, as well as former Brigadier General and Chief of Israel Defense Forces in cyber. Andreessen Horowitz invested in Wiz, an Israeli cybersecurity company, in May 2024; in March 2025, Wiz was acquired by Google for $32 billion.
An Andreessen Horowitz partner has also given money to Sarona Ventures, an Israeli fund to support Israel's startup ecosystem. In June 2025, it announced it is seeking "elite IDF alumni" to participate in its startup accelerator.
General Catalyst is another venture firm funded by Vintage Investment Partners, and has a number of weapons companies in its portfolio. Other venture capital firms funded by Vintage Investment Partners include Craft Ventures, DCVC, Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital, Battery, Bessemer Venture Partners, Lightspeed, and Ribbit Capital, a major crypto investor.
In turn, venture capital has long been a major funder of Israel. Reporting from Crunchbase from October 2023 states: “Since 2019, $32 billion [in venture capital funding] has been invested in companies headquartered in Israel… Of that investment amount, around 51% were led or co-led by U.S.-based investors. Many Israeli tech companies have a dual presence in the U.S. and strong connections with American investors, some of whom have worked to support their portfolio companies based in the country.”
The escalation of the Palestinian genocide has broadened investment opportunities for U.S. venture capital - chiefly in weapons manufacturing and development, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. In 2023, Israeli startups raised $7 billion, with 75 deals made across October, November and December, and reporting that foreign venture funding actually rose in the 4th quarter from the preceding months.
In January 2024, The Times of Israel published an article stating “Local and international VC funds remain bullish on Israeli technology despite two crises that have compounded a funding squeeze in a sector that is the nation’s growth engine.” The article further quotes a venture capitalist from American venture capital firm PSG Equity, stating “out of all this mess, and… bad times that we are going through… this will be probably the biggest tailwind that we have for the new wave of innovation in Israel.” The founder of Boldstart Ventures, which has invested over $150 million into Israeli startups, was quoted saying “I wish all my founders were as resilient as the Israeli founders.”
From October 7th 2023 to the first week of March 2024, over $1 billion was raised by venture capital firms with a focus on investment in Israeli tech startups.
Ibex Investors, in Denver, announced a fund of over $100 million for Israeli startups in February 2024, stating it will “back as many as 15 local early-stage startups across tech industry areas, including software, infrastructure, cybersecurity, development tools, and insuretech.” In March 2024, Team8, an Israeli venture capital firm focused on “cyber security” and artificial intelligence, raised $500 million from American tech companies including Cisco and Microsoft. The month of March also saw Israeli drone company Titan Innovations announce a $50 million venture capital fund to invest in facial recognition for the Israeli military.
Investments in Israel from United States venture capital accumulated to $12.7 billion across 2024 and the first five months of 2025. According to JNS, "the cumulative $3.15 billion raised in 2025 suggests resilience in Israel’s tech sector amid global economic uncertainties."
Kela Technologies (not to be confused with the similarly named Kela Group- an Israeli cybersecurity firm), was founded in 2024 in Tel Aviv and has received two series of investments from Silicon Valley. Kela's founder, Hamutal Meridor, graduated from the Israeli Defense Forces' Unit 8200 and is a former manager of Palantir's Israeli operations. Meridor has stated, "Our mission is not just about business, our mission is about Zionism." Kela aims to become a defense prime and "convert Israel into a defense tech hub for Western militaries—a source of strategic advantage for NATO and the U.S. as they seek to deter their adversaries."
Lux Capital, an openly pro-Israel venture capital firm backing Anduril and staffing a former CIA director, began investments into Israel in late 2023 and partnered with Sequoia in 2025 for their second series, bringing total investments in Kela to $39 million. Sequoia announced the investment and partnership through their website, including the details of Kela's fourth founder, Omer Bar-Ilan, "a technical genius known for his work on Israel’s Iron Dome".
Since October, 2023, venture capital investment in Israel has skyrocketed while local Israeli venture capital investments in cybersecurity have declined. In a statement made to Pitchbook,
“Founders know that the American VCs will give much more capital and a higher valuation,” said 97212 Ventures founding partner Eyal Bino. “A GP friend of mine at a high-quality Israeli VC told me ‘I don’t even see the top layer of deals anymore; they just go directly to Sequoia or Andreessen. They skipped us.’”
Oracle CEO Safra Catz met with Benjamin Netanyahu months prior to the October 7th escalation of the genocide to discuss the expansion of Oracle's services in Israel. Oracle's relationship with Israel intensified in 2021 when the giant database company launched a $319 million underground datacenter in Jerusalem. Ellison reportedly offered Netanyahu a position on the board of Oracle. Oracle is currently positioned to purchase TikTok from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, after multiple attempts by the U.S. government to ban it, leading to successful negotiation that gave Oracle the power to store U.S. user's data. Since the escalation of the genocide, TikTok has served as one of the only platforms allowing pro-Palestinian content to flourish, making it a target for censorship.
Catz, commenting to the Times of Israel, said in January 2024 that Oracle would double its investment in Israel and open a second underground data center in Israel.
Employees of Oracle have been intimidated to silently comply with the company's hard line support of Israel, revealing to The Intercept:
“The environment is horrible, people are terrified to even mention Palestine,” one employee, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, told The Intercept. “I cannot stand it anymore.”
Out of 160,000 global Oracle employees, 68 signed an open letter in 2024, criticizing Oracle for their partnerships with Israel:
"We did not sign up to be Oracle employees based on the personal or political views of the leadership team. In fact many of us were not even aware of those views until recently. We were certainly unaware of an unwavering 'mission' and requirement for unquestioning support of the state of Israel when we signed our employment contracts. To insinuate that we should not work here because we don’t support Israel is discriminatory and goes against Oracle’s own ethical standards...
In response to legitimate concerns, many of us have been referred to internal mental health resources rather than having those concerns addressed appropriately. We know of many talented employees who have resigned due to the company’s one-sided stance."
Many employees called out the removal of pro-Palestinian causes from Oracle's donation page:
"As the war raged, relief organizations like Medical Aid for Palestinians and UNRWA were taken off the internal giving page and no longer listed as accepting matching donations, four employees told The Intercept.
Oracle employees told The Intercept that the company chalked up the disappearance of the Palestinian-oriented charities to changes in policy that focused on education, environment, and health — though the Oracle employees pointed out some of the charities in question did focus on those areas. When they asked for the charities to be reinstated, they received no response."
The Tech for Palestine project has published a tool tracking VCs complicit in the genocide to help tech employees, founders and others in the tech world avoid working with these firms. Complicity in the genocide by venture capital has also been tracked by Genocide.VC.
Weapons and AI
A key juncture in the relationship between Israel and venture capital has been collaboration in the venture capital military, backed by a16z, Founders Fund (Peter Thiel’s VC firm), and CIA’s venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel. All three are investors in weapons and defense tech startup Anduril, as well as many other weapons and defense companies.
At a WSJ business conference event on October 16th 2023, the CEO of Anduril stated: “Israel has my unqualified support. They have the support of Anduril in a moral sense. I obviously can’t talk about what we’re doing over there specifically. That’d be a question for a different day." Anduril's founder, Palmer Luckey, publicly affirmed he is a "radical Zionist," while also claiming on February 25th 2025, via X, that “None of our products have been used by Israel or in Gaza". Anduril, along with Palantir and SpaceX, plan to build a "Golden Dome" modeled after Israel's Iron Dome.
The weapons startup Skydio produces drones that are actively in use by Israel following direct requests from the Israeli military. Skydio is funded by Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, Axon and Accel. Another tech weapons startup, Shield AI, which produces AI for drone and aircraft swarms, is also being used by Israel. Shield AI is funded by Andreessen Horowitz,
US Innovative Technology Fund and Chaos Ventures.
In 2024, the first Reindustrialize conference converged in Detroit - orchestrated by Mike Slagh, who also organized the 2023 D.C.-based Defense Ventures Summit. These conferences, part of a bloom of tech/defense conferences, bring venture capitalists, military and intelligence personnel, and war hawks under the same roof. Companies who are active in Israel or finance action in Israel, and attended Reindustrialize, include Palantir, Y Combinator, General Catalyst and Bain Capital Ventures, among hundreds of others from the VC and tech community.
Palantir CTO Shayam Sankar, who writes for The American Conservative, spoke at Reindustrialize 2025 with rousing enthusiasm for the future of American innovation in artificial intelligence, launching Palantir's new American Tech Fellowship:
"American Tech Fellows will participate in an intensive virtual training run by our partner, Ontologize. Fellows will build on Palantir’s world-class software platform, AIP. A select group from our first cohort will showcase their skills at a one-day, in-person Hackathon in Detroit next month as part of the Reindustrialize Summit. And top-performing fellows will have opportunities for high-paying, high-tempo jobs at Palantir and partner companies, where they’ll drive America’s technological renaissance."
"The AI age isn’t something that’s happening to America. It’s something America is going to create. And we’re going to do it the American way: by believing in our people, investing in their potential, and giving them the tools to build something extraordinary."
Sankar publicly proclaimed that he "Couldn't be prouder to stand with Israel", in response to Norway's efforts to divest from Israel since the escalation of the genocide. Palantir has had offices in Tel Aviv since 2015. Expanding a long-lasting relationship, Palantir signed a renewed agreement with Israel in January 2024; Bloomberg reported that
“Palantir Technologies Inc., the data analysis firm that provides militaries with artificial intelligence models, has agreed to a strategic partnership with the Israeli Defense Ministry to supply technology to help the country’s war effort.
The agreement followed a Thursday meeting between Israeli defense officials and Palantir co-founders Peter Thiel and Alex Karp in Tel Aviv, according to Executive Vice President Josh Harris, who was also in attendance.
‘Both parties have mutually agreed to harness Palantir’s advanced technology in support of war-related missions,’ Harris told Bloomberg on Friday. ‘This strategic partnership aims to significantly aid the Israeli Ministry of Defense in addressing the current situation in Israel.’”
Since October 7th 2023, Palantir’s stock has increased by more than 10x, and has become a Wall Street darling.
Crypto
The world's largest crypto exchange, Coinbase, acquired the Israeli company, Unbound Security, in 2021, stating:
"we’re announcing the next phase of our security journey with the acquisition of Unbound Security. Based in Israel, it is a pioneer in a number of cryptographic security technologies, including the emerging field of secure multi-party computation (MPC)...
In addition to the technological expertise that we will gain through this acquisition, we also plan to establish a tech center of excellence in Israel that will ensure that Coinbase is always at the bleeding edge of security and blockchain technology. We’ve long recognized Israel as a hot bed of strong technology and cryptography talent, and are excited to continue to grow our team with some of the best and brightest minds in these fields. The Unbound Security team will form the nucleus of this new research facility, which we plan to grow over time."
In the wake of October 7th, the cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance, collaborated with Israeli authorities to freeze over 100 accounts, in a "bid to curtail terror financing". Since then, Binance has faced lawsuits claiming that Binance assisted Hamas by providing cryptocurrency services; these events demonstrate how cryptocurrency access can be manipulated by geopolitical motivations and crypto access can be cut off in the service of powerful states like Israel.
Israel has been engaged in a financial war with Iran, with crypto a key battlefield. From Wired in June 2025:
"The Israel-linked hacker group known as Predatory Sparrow has carried out some of the most disruptive and destructive cyberattacks in history, twice disabling thousands of gas station payment systems across Iran and once even setting a steel mill in the country on fire. Now, in the midst of a new war unfolding between the two countries, they appear to be bent on burning Iran's financial system.
Predatory Sparrow, which often goes by its Farsi name, Gonjeshke Darande, in an effort to appear as a homegrown hacktivist organization, announced in a post on its X account Wednesday that it had targeted the Iranian crypto exchange Nobitex, accusing the exchange of enabling sanctions violations and terrorist financing on behalf of the Iranian regime. According to cryptocurrency tracing firm Elliptic, the hackers destroyed more than $90 million in Nobitex holdings, a rare instance of hackers burning crypto assets rather than stealing them."
In August 2025, the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced its acquisition of Capitalise.ai, an Israeli trading automation platform.
In July 2025, Israel made significant progress towards widespread crypto adoption; via Forbes:
"In a landmark event at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, titled 'A Crypto Strategy for Israel - A Growth Engine for the Israeli Economy,' members of parliament, regulators, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders gathered to unveil the final report of Israel’s National Committee for Crypto Strategy. After months of intensive work, the committee presented a roadmap aiming to transform Israel into a global crypto powerhouse — but only if the government acts swiftly...
The committee’s report warns that while other countries such as the United States, Singapore and Dubai are moving ahead with proactive crypto policies, Israel is suffering from brain drain and a flight of entrepreneurs due to regulatory uncertainty. According to the report, if adopted, the crypto sector could contribute up to $120 billion to Israel’s GDP over the next decade....
Israel currently hosts around 160 crypto and blockchain companies, employing over 3,300 skilled workers and raising more than $4.25 billion to date."
Israel and The Network State
Venture capitalists and entrepreneurs alike have used Israel's occupation as inspiration for their colonial projects across the globe. Former Andreessen Horowitz partner, Balaji Srinivasan, author of The Network State book, has galvanized a movement within tech and venture capital, seeking land acquisition and sovereignty to replace existing nation states. Balaji explains, “What I’m really calling for is something like tech Zionism — when a community forms online and then gathers in physical space to form a ‘reverse diaspora.’”
The Network State finds a kindred spirit to the violent establishment of their own state, praising Israel’s achievements: “Their status as a nation state changed with time. The Jewish people were once a stateless nation, a diaspora group united by common ancestry and tradition without a land or government to call their own. Then, within living memory, they founded the state of Israel.”
CEO, Erick Briman of the Network State of Próspera in Honduras, posted a lengthy blog titled "Lessons Learned from Israel, The Start-Up Nation" , stating
"Israel has earned the moniker 'Start-Up Nation' for a good reason: it is home to the most start-ups per capita in the world by a large margin and has more companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange than the entire European continent. For a relatively small country of roughly 8,000mi2 that was conjured out of thin air in 1948, this is a mind-blowing achievement...
Although Israel’s position amongst a gang of hostile nations may seem on its face to be a detriment for Israel, it is, in fact, a blessing in disguise. First, it has caused Israel to develop robust global trade networks, and second, it has had an indelible impact on Israel’s culture that has uniquely contributed to its productivity...
Israel’s hostile neighbors are also partially responsible for the creation of the very culture which has enabled the small Jewish nation to be so economically successful. The hostility of their neighbors forced Israelis to become largely self-sufficient and develop a sense of self-reliance that is still powerfully felt in the culture today...
... a few lessons can be gleaned from Israel’s economic miracle: the importance of fiscal austerity, the lightest regulatory burden possible, the importance of state-backed venture funds for new jurisdictions, the importance of high-skilled, highly-educated immigrants, and the importance of developing a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.
It may be impossible to exactly replicate the unique amalgam of circumstances which catalyzed Israeli growth, but application of these lessons will almost certainly put any aspiring Start-Up Nation on the path to prosperity and human flourishing. "
Próspera is itself facing massive pushback against its own colonial project from the Honduran people and government, with the government declaring the Network State "retroactively unconstitutional" in September 2024. Próspera has since expanded operations in Honduras, while another Próspera site is slated for development in Africa. Próspera demonstrates how the Network State model is materially built on the precedent of Israel, and that this model is already scaling out around the globe.
There are significant datapoints indicating that Gaza itself will become a Network State site. This includes documents from the Israeli Prime Minister's office stating that the site will be used for a free trade zone and basis of new cities, as well as an energy and manufacturing hub. Trump has spoken extensively on this theme; in 2025, Trump posted an AI-generated video depicting Gaza as a Trump-themed luxury resort region, describing his idea at the White House during a visit with Netanyahu:
"The U.S will take over the Gaza Strip. We’ll do a job with it. We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous bombs and other weapons. We will level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”
In 2025, the Financial Times reported "The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) participated in a project to develop a postwar Gaza plan that envisaged kick-starting the enclave’s economy with a 'Trump Riviera' and an 'Elon Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone'... Titled the 'Great Trust' and shared with the Trump administration, it proposed paying half a million Palestinians to leave the area and attracting private investors to develop Gaza..."
More information on these plans can be found on this site. These ideas are already in flight, with dozens of Network State sites, Freedom City proposals and "special economic zones" spreading across the global map with varying degrees of advancement. Gaza is clearly a prime target for this global project.
With the support of venture capital, Israel is achieving its goal of destroying Palestine, committing genocide against its people, and forcibly removing Palestinians from their land to make way for the development of finance capital and the Network State. As we witness another wave of acceleration from venture capital zionists and Network State nationalists, it is necessary to closely monitor efforts to create special economic zones and new Network State cities on Gaza.