Amid ongoing war, Israel and the UK launch fund for joint tech research projects
$2.4 million fund will allocate grants to joint research on quantum technologies, AI in drug discovery, food tech
Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel.
Israel and the UK have created a NIS 9 million fund ($2.4 million) to provide grants to researchers on joint projects and foster scientific collaboration between the two countries for the development of transformative technologies.
The research collaboration is the first initiative jointly funded by the UK’s Department of Science, Innovation and Technology and Israel’s Innovation, Science and Technology Ministry. As part of the program, UK and Israeli researchers will be granted up to £200,000 over three years for collaborative research projects that focus on quantum technologies, artificial intelligence in drug discovery, alternative proteins, and advanced food packaging.
“The UK and Israel have built a strong relationship on science and technology; the launch of the first UK-Israel bilateral research call marks a significant milestone, elevating the already fruitful collaboration between our research communities,” said British Ambassador to Israel Simon Walters. “It provides a unique opportunity for top scientists from both nations to develop cutting-edge research in quantum, food tech and artificial intelligence in drug discovery.”
The first call for research proposals for Israeli and UK scientists was recently launched and will close on September 30 this year.
The program comes on the heels of a £1.7 million deal between the two countries announced in September to strengthen ties in the fields of science and innovation and to back joint research projects in areas such as AI, health and the environment, and collaborate on the development of critical technologies.
While the amount of the grants are not particularly large, the commitment comes at a time when Israel is facing increased criticism over its military campaign since the outbreak of war with Hamas triggered by the terror group’s onslaught on October 7. The Hamas-led massacre last October saw 1,200 people brutally butchered in southern Israel and 251 abducted to the Gaza Strip.
Amid pressure from its 500,000 members, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the UK’s largest private-sector pension fund, has sold £80 million of Israeli assets over concern over the war in Gaza, according to a report last week by the Financial Times. The fund’s members are largely higher education sector employees and senior researchers, including at top universities such as Oxford and Cambridge.
Earlier this year former British Supreme Court justices, and some 600 other senior legal professionals and academics, insisted that the British government was obligated to review the existing trade agreement between the UK and Israel, and suspend the 2030 Road Map for UK-Israel bilateral relations over the ongoing military campaign with Hamas.
At the end of July, the new Labour government in the UK announced its intention to resume free trade agreement talks with Israel. Total trade in goods and services, including exports plus imports, between the UK and Israel generated £6 billion in the year to the end of the first quarter of 2023, a decline of 14.1 percent year-on-year, according to data by the UK Department for Business and Trade.
Separately, a report published by the UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT) last week showed that on a per capita basis, Israel is among the top 10 countries in Europe for foreign direct investment projects in the UK over the past year.
Luxembourg, Ireland, and Sweden lead the top 10 list with the most business projects in the UK followed by Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Finland, Austria, and Israel.
“Our two nations continue to work closely together, driving innovation and economic growth despite regional challenges,” said Walters. “The UK’s commitment to fostering a supportive environment for Israeli businesses to expand and flourish remains unwavering.”
“The UK remains a solid, welcoming destination for Israeli businesses looking to expand their global reach,” he added.
Overall, Israel ranks at number 13 of all European countries, regardless of their size of population, with 19 companies either establishing a presence in the UK or expanding their existing presence this year. The Israeli companies, which operate in diverse sectors, such as fintech, healthcare, and cybersecurity, created 532 new jobs.
“Operating in the UK as one of our initial global markets was a strategic decision, leveraging the country’s supportive environment, leadership in sustainability and innovation, and its well-developed retail sector,” said Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, founder of Israel’s foodtech startup Redefine Meat, a maker of 3D-printed plant-based meat products. “Our presence in hundreds of top restaurants across the country, along with nationwide availability, exemplifies the vast opportunities and immense potential the UK market offers.”
