Tel Aviv, Israel News

About Tel Aviv, Israel

Tel Aviv is the economic capital of Israel. Tel Aviv has gradually developed as a center for scientific and technical research. In 1974, Intel opened its first overseas research and development operation in the city, and Tel Aviv emerged as a high-tech center in the 1990s.

Economic activities in the city account for about 15 percent of national employment and about 17 percent of GDP. Forty percent of national employment in finance and 25 percent of national employment in business services is in the city.

The economy of Tel Aviv has developed dramatically over the past decades. The city has been described as a flourishing technological center by Newsweek and a "miniature Los Angeles" by The Economist.

Many computer scientists, their numbers increased by immigration from the former Soviet Union since the early 1990s, live and work in Tel Aviv.

In 1998, the city was described by Newsweek as one of the top 10 most technologically influential cities in the world. Since then, high-tech industry in the Tel Aviv area has developed even more.

The Tel Aviv metropolitan area (including satellite cities such as Herzliya and Petah Tikva) is Israel's center of high-tech and is sometimes referred to as Silicon Wadi. Tel Aviv is home to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), Israel's only stock exchange, which has reached record heights since the 1990s.

Many international venture-capital firms, scientific research institutes and high-tech companies are headquartered in the city.

Industries in Tel Aviv include chemical processing, textile plants and food manufacturers. The city's nightlife, cultural attractions and architecture attract tourists whose spending benefits the local economy.

The Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC) at Loughborough University has constructed an inventory of world cities based on their level of advanced producer services.

The inventory lists Tel Aviv as having "strong evidence" of world city formation—the highest ranking for a Middle Eastern city with the exception of partly-European Istanbul.

Nine of the fifteen Israeli billionaires live in Israel; four live in Tel Aviv or its suburbs, according to Forbes.

Other Major Cities:

• Yerushalayim
• Hefa
• Rishon LeZiyyon
• Ashdod
• Be'ér Sheva'
• Petah Tiqwa
• Netanya
• Holon
• Bene Beraq
• Bat Yam
• Ramat Gan
• Ashqelon
• Rehovot