Israeli tech Texas corridor investment reached $3.2 billion and 4,200+ jobs, per Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Texas Governor's Office data reported August 20, 2026.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz touted the state's Israeli tech corridor on X on August 20, 2026, citing $3.2 billion invested and more than 4,200 jobs created over the past decade. Cruz's figures track data from the Texas Governor's Office and the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office, and he described it as \"a partnership worth growing.\"
\n\nWhat did Ted Cruz say about Israeli investment in Texas?
\nCruz posted the $3.2 billion and 4,200-job figures on X, and The Jerusalem Post reported on August 20, 2026 that the numbers are based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from the 2024 financial year, the same year two-way merchandise trade between Texas and Israel reached roughly $4 billion. Texas exported $757.9 million to Israel and imported $3.2 billion from Israel that year. Cruz said the investment is expanding into AI, cyber, defense, water, and agriculture.
\nThe relationship runs in both directions. Over the same decade, Texas companies reported seven investment projects into Israel, $178.6 million in capital investment, and more than 545 new jobs, according to the same Jerusalem Post report. Israel ranks as the 19th-largest source country for foreign direct investment projects into Texas and the 17th-largest source for jobs created by FDI, in a state that is itself the number one exporting state in the country and the leading state for FDI over the last two decades.
\n\nWhich Israeli companies have invested the most in Texas?
\nAccording to the Texas Governor's Office and the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office, the Israeli companies with the highest capital investment in Texas over the last 10 years are Nofar, Doral, Wiz, Elbit Systems, Ellomay, Tower Semiconductor, Starplast, Incredo Sugar, Percepto, and BOS. Elbit Systems of America, the Fort Worth-based U.S. arm of Israel's Elbit Systems, supplies the U.S. Department of Defense. Alon USA Energy, founded by Israeli entrepreneur David Wiessman, built a Texas refining and retail-fuel footprint before merging into Delek US Holdings in 2017.
\nA newer wave followed. A 5W Public Relations report, published April 30, 2026, documented more than 80 Israeli technology companies that established or expanded U.S. operations in Texas between 2020 and 2026, including Wiz, SentinelOne, Pagaya, Salt Security, Hippo, Cellebrite, Forter, Verbit, and Innoviz, concentrated in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Houston.
\n\nWhat do the named Israeli investments in Texas actually build?
\nNofar Energy, operating in Texas through its Nofar USA subsidiary, is developing two utility-scale battery storage projects: Bracero Pecan, a 230-megawatt, 460-megawatt-hour project in Reeves County, and Fairway, a 120-megawatt, 240-megawatt-hour project in Freestone County, according to a March 24, 2025 announcement from law firm Pillsbury, which advised on the deal. Starplast, an Israeli plastics manufacturer, operates a Houston facility spanning more than 500,000 square feet, alongside an existing site in Richmond, Virginia, Manufacturing Today reported on May 2, 2025. Percepto, a Tel Aviv-based provider of autonomous drone inspection technology for industrial sites, has raised $128 million in funding to date.
\nIsrael's broader technology exports to Texas concentrate in two additional categories. Israel originates more than 20 percent of global cybersecurity venture funding, positioning Texas's defense, financial services, and energy sectors as deployment markets for that technology, according to the 5W Public Relations report. On artificial intelligence specifically, Israel ranks first globally on the Anthropic AI Usage Index, at 4.9 times the global baseline, per a joint 5W-Louder study titled \"Claude in Israel,\" published in April 2026.
\n\nWhy are founders moving to Austin and Dallas?
\nMore than 40 Israeli tech founders have made Austin their U.S. base, according to Calcalist, cited in the same 5W report. Named companies include Next Insurance, Papaya Global, Quali, REE Automotive, and Somite, the company founded by Chorus.ai alumnus Micha Breakstone, whose earlier company sold to ZoomInfo for roughly $575 million in 2021.
\nThe same report put a number on the cost gap: running a 100-person engineering office in Austin or Dallas costs roughly 35 to 50 percent less than the same operation in San Francisco or San Jose, once office space, total compensation, and tax burden are factored in. The report also credits the University of Texas system, Texas A&M, Rice University, and the U.S. Army Cyber Command with building a talent base in cybersecurity, defense, and energy that now competes with Silicon Valley's, and cites Texas's ERCOT grid and its supply of natural gas, solar, and wind generation as a factor for compute-intensive AI operations. A self-reinforcing Israeli founder and investor network has formed around figures like Adam Foroughi of AppLovin in Austin, the Israeli-American Council's Texas chapter, and the Texas-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
\n\nWhat government and institutional ties support the corridor?
\nTexas was the first U.S. state to pass anti-BDS legislation, in 2017, a position more than 35 states have since adopted. Governor Greg Abbott led a 2020 Texas mission to Israel, meeting with Start-Up Nation Central and cyber threat intelligence startup IntSights, and hearing a briefing on the Texas-Israel Technology Partnership's work placing Israeli health-tech pilots inside the Texas Medical Center in Houston.
\nThe Texas Legislature approved a State of Texas Israel Office during its 89th session in 2025. As of August 2026, the office is still being established: Texas issued a request for proposals in June 2026 seeking a contractor to operate the physical office in Jerusalem, a delay from the early-2026 launch originally planned, The Jerusalem Post reported. Texas currently operates two state-run trade offices, in Mexico and Taiwan; the Jerusalem office would be its first permanent economic outpost in the Middle East.
\nCapital markets reflect the same trend. In February 2026, Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock announced that Texas was doubling its investment in Israel Bonds, from roughly $140 million to $280 million, the largest one-time investment in Israel Bonds in Texas history. Bexar County Commissioner Grant Moody, after an economic delegation to Israel, has pointed to potential dual listings between the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the planned Texas Stock Exchange in Dallas.
\nThe Texas-Israel Alliance has operated since 2007 under chairman Doug Deason, alongside the Israeli-American Council's Texas chapter and the Jewish National Fund's Dallas office. A memorandum of understanding among the Texas Association of Business, the Texas-Israel Alliance, and Startup Nation Central, signed in April 2024, formalized coordination among the groups.
\n\nWhat capital backs Israeli defense-tech in Texas?
\nTexas Venture Partners, a $50 million fund launched in Austin in 2024, invests exclusively in early-stage Israeli defense-tech startups establishing U.S. operations in Texas, typically deploying $1 million to $4 million per portfolio company. It is led by Tal Shmueli, a former IDF Special Forces officer and former LinkedIn executive, and Lorne Abony.
\nThe capital sits inside a broader defense-tech buildout. Army Futures Command in Austin, Joint Base San Antonio, and Fort Cavazos give startups direct proximity to military end users and procurement officers, and the Defense Innovation Unit and AFWERX, the Air Force's innovation arm, run pilot programs embedded directly inside the state's startup pipeline, according to The Jerusalem Post, on March 8, 2026. A DoD Readiness Program is designed specifically to help Israeli companies navigate U.S. defense procurement, and Austin's Capital Factory serves as an early-stage investment hub for the sector. The Jerusalem Post held its Unicorn Rodeo conference connecting Israeli and Texas investors in Dallas on April 29 and 30, 2026.
\n\nHow does Texas compare to other U.S. Israeli tech corridors?
\nTexas trails several states that have already published full economic-impact studies through the U.S.-Israel Business Alliance (USIBA), because Texas has not yet commissioned one of its own.
\n| State | Direct jobs | Total output | Companies | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 57,000 | $19.5 billion | Not reported | USIBA, 2024 |
| Florida | 8,190 | $7.3 billion | 429 | USIBA, 2024 |
| Virginia | 2,400+ | $2.3 billion | 119 | USIBA, 2024 |
| Texas | 4,200+ | $3.2 billion | Not reported | Texas Governor's Office, 2025 (FDI registry only) |
The Texas figures reflect the formal foreign direct investment registry, not a comprehensive economic-impact study. 5W Public Relations estimates that the full footprint, once startups, R&D centers, and founder relocations are counted, places Texas in the same tier as Florida's Israel tech corridor.
\n\nWhat comes next for the Texas-Israel corridor?
\nAir links are catching up to the trade data. American Airlines first planned nonstop Dallas/Fort Worth to Tel Aviv service for June 2022, but the launch was shelved amid Boeing 787 delivery delays, according to reporting by Aviation A2Z. The carrier resumed its New York JFK to Tel Aviv route in 2026 after a multi-year suspension tied to the war that began in October 2023, and 2026 fare listings include Dallas/Fort Worth to Tel Aviv as a planned future addition.
\n5W Public Relations projects that more than 30 additional Israeli technology companies are likely to establish or expand Texas operations by mid-2027, based on stated expansion plans, recent funding rounds, and category trajectories. Between named anchors like Elbit Systems, Wiz, and Tower Semiconductor, a founder surge concentrated in Austin, a doubled bond commitment, and a state government still finalizing its Jerusalem trade office, the Texas-Israel corridor has moved from a handful of established companies to a multi-sector pipeline in the space of five years.
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