The Diaspora Is Buying Israel by the Square Meter
Bill Ackman at Rothschild 10. A French lawyer combining two Tel Aviv apartments. An Australian at NIS 58 million. The named buyers, brokers, and developers behind the diaspora capital rebuilding Israeli prime real estate.
Bill Ackman, French lawyers, Australian executives, foreign residents pre-aliyah. The names behind the foreign-resident wave reshaping Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Caesarea — and the Israeli developers and brokers on the other side of the deal.
Ackman Plants a Flag on Rothschild
Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, bought into Rothschild 10 — the Tidhar Group, Weiss Group, and Ziv Aviram-developed Six Senses-branded tower on Rothschild Boulevard — for a reported NIS 70 million, roughly $20 million, Ynetnews reported earlier this year. Ackman’s wife, Neri Oxman, is Israeli-born. The tower is the most expensive new-build address in Tel Aviv, with closed deals hitting NIS 140,000 per square meter — roughly double what nearby luxury projects clear at.
Ackman is not buying yield. He is buying a wartime flag on the most prestigious boulevard in Israel. The signal is the asset.
Tidhar, Weiss, Ziv Aviram: The Other Side of the Trade
Rothschild 10 is being built by Tidhar Group and Weiss Group, with Ziv Aviram — the Mobileye co-founder who sold the company to Intel for $15.3 billion in 2017 — as a third partner. The developers have put an estimated NIS 1 billion into the project. Six Senses, the LVMH-controlled hospitality brand, manages the lower-floor hotel. The building has 55 luxury residences on its upper floors and a preservation component covering five surrounding early-20th-century buildings inside the original Ahuzat Bayit neighborhood.
The earlier benchmark deal in the same tower closed in late 2024: a foreign resident paid NIS 47 million for a 320-square-meter half-floor on the 34th floor. Broker Oren Katz closed the transaction.
The French Aliyah Trade
On Michal Street in central Tel Aviv, a French lawyer bought two adjacent fourth-floor apartments in a Tama 38/1 project for a combined NIS 13 million — roughly $3.5 million. The buyer plans to combine them into a single 167-square-meter residence ahead of a future move to Israel. Two safe rooms. Two balconies. Roughly NIS 77,000 per square meter. Bought at presale, no financing incentives requested.
The Michal Street deal is the template. French Jewish buyers — lawyers, doctors, family-office principals — moving capital ahead of aliyah, locking in safe-room-equipped urban combinations, paying cash.
The Australian on Chen Boulevard
An Australian businessman, name withheld in the registry, paid NIS 58 million for a Tel Aviv home, Globes reported. Separately, the journalist and media figure Yaakov Bardugo sold a 384-square-meter duplex on Chen Boulevard — the most coveted residential address inside Tel Aviv’s Old North. The buyer was not named publicly.
Chen Boulevard is the Bauhaus spine. Wide. Tree-lined. Quiet. Walking distance to Rothschild without the noise. The duplex format — two stacked floors with a private staircase — is the rarest stock in central Tel Aviv.
Jerusalem: Rehavia, Gaza Street, Foreign Residents Pre-Aliyah
A 177-square-meter apartment at 30 Gaza Street in Jerusalem’s Rehavia neighborhood was bought by foreign residents who plan to make aliyah, Globes reported. Rehavia is the embassy-belt of pre-state Jerusalem — German-Jewish, mandate-era, the historic home of the Hebrew academic class.
The pattern across Jerusalem’s prime market is identical to Tel Aviv: foreign buyers paying up to NIS 75,000 per square meter, driven by what real estate agents publicly cite as rising antisemitism abroad. Boutique projects in Yemin Moshe and the German Colony are clearing at or above Tel Aviv prices, with extended absences between buyer visits factored into building services.
Caesarea and Netanya: The Legacy Compounds
Outside Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the diaspora trade routes through Caesarea, Herzliya Pituach, Savyon, Kfar Shmaryahu, and Netanya. Liora Davidson, founder of Davidson Real Estate, sources off-market Caesarea homes for North American buyers running deals fully remote. Marc Lugassy, owner of Barnes Israel — the Israeli arm of the global Barnes International luxury network — described the dynamic publicly: a purchase in Israel is not just a financial decision but a declaration of connection to the land.
Caesarea is the gated alternative. PGA-standard golf course. Roman amphitheater. Private security. The smallest community, the longest deeds. Many homes change hands between Jewish families without ever appearing on a listing.
Why the Trade Is Accelerating
Three forces, in this order. First, antisemitism in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Agents across the market name it as the leading driver. Second, the structural scarcity of buildable coastal land between Tel Aviv and Herzliya. Third, the dollar-shekel rate working in favor of dollar and euro buyers.
Ynetnews data on 2025 closings showed roughly a 30 percent jump in overseas-buyer interest from the United States, France, and Australia in Tel Aviv coastal projects. The trade did not slow during missile fire. It accelerated. Ackman closed during wartime. The Michal Street French lawyer closed during wartime. The Gaza Street Rehavia buyers closed during wartime.
The Israeli Developers and Brokers Building the Pipeline
On the supply side, the names worth tracking: Tidhar Group, Weiss Group, and Ziv Aviram on Rothschild 10. Tidhar separately developing the Mandarin Oriental opposite Dolphinarium Beach. Yossi Avrahami, Ashtrom, and Africa Israel Residences across other prime towers. Sadan Group on coastal Tel Aviv–Jaffa projects.
On the brokerage side, Marc Lugassy at Barnes Israel for ultra-high-net-worth American and European buyers. Liora Davidson at Davidson Real Estate for Caesarea and Netanya remote deals. Oren Katz closing inside Rothschild 10. Lee Ziv handling international luxury marketing for branded-residence developments.
The Money Behind the Money
The diaspora real estate trade is the most legible expression of a much larger movement: foreign Jewish capital choosing Israel as a generational anchor. The buyer is rarely a flipper. The buyer is a family. The asset is the next 50 years.
חלק עברי | Hebrew Section
גל הקונים הזרים בנדל"ן הישראלי לא נעצר. ביל אקמן רכש דירה במגדל רוטשילד 10 של תדהיר, ויס וזיו אבירם בכ-70 מיליון שקל. עורך דין צרפתי קנה שתי דירות סמוכות ברחוב מיכל בתל אביב ב-13 מיליון שקל וצימצם אותן לדירה אחת לקראת עלייה. תושבי חוץ רכשו דירה ברחוב עזה ברחביה בירושלים. איש עסקים אוסטרלי שילם 58 מיליון שקל לדירה בתל אביב. הסוכנים בשטח, מארק לוגאסי מבארנס ישראל וליאורה דוידסון מדוידסון נדל"ן, מדווחים על עלייה של כ-30% בעניין משוק יהודי ארה"ב, צרפת ואוסטרליה. הסיבה המרכזית שמובאת: עליית האנטישמיות בעולם.
FAQ
Who is the most prominent named diaspora buyer in Israeli real estate in 2026?
Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, who reportedly paid NIS 70 million — about $20 million — for a residence in the Six Senses-branded Rothschild 10 tower in Tel Aviv.
Who developed Rothschild 10?
Tidhar Group and Weiss Group, with Mobileye co-founder Ziv Aviram as a partner. The hotel inside the tower is managed by Six Senses.
What is the price per square meter in Tel Aviv’s top tower?
Closed deals in Rothschild 10 have reached NIS 140,000 per square meter, roughly double the NIS 80,000–100,000 of nearby luxury projects.
Where are French Jewish buyers concentrating?
Central Tel Aviv, particularly Tama 38/1 reconstruction projects with safe rooms, and Netanya. Most buyers plan eventual aliyah.
Where in Jerusalem is the foreign-resident demand?
Rehavia, Yemin Moshe, and the German Colony. Prices in Jerusalem’s prime market are now reaching NIS 75,000 per square meter.
What is the leading reason brokers cite for the surge?
Rising antisemitism abroad. Brokers across Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Caesarea name it publicly as the primary driver, followed by structural scarcity of coastal land and favorable currency rates.
Sources
Ynetnews, Globes, Times of Israel, Calcalist, Jerusalem Post.
