Lior Handelsman: Israel Has a Major Opportunity to Launch Its Own “Genesis Mission” for AI
The United States recently announced the launch of the “Genesis Mission”, a large-scale national initiative dedicated to accelerating artificial intelligence research, development, and infrastructure. As Lior Handelsman notes in his new article for Calcalist, the move serves as a timely reminder that Israel, though smaller in scale, has a powerful opportunity to shape its own national AI strategy, one capable of energizing the local innovation ecosystem and laying the foundation for new industries.
The American initiative outlines a coordinated effort across government, academia, and industry. It emphasizes data-sharing, regulatory clarity, and access to advanced computing resources, recognizing that AI is not merely another technology, but a strategic national infrastructure. U.S. media outlets have already compared the initiative to historic undertakings like the Manhattan Project or the Apollo Program, underscoring its potential to reshape science, technology, and economic competitiveness.
In the article, Lior explains why national-scale initiatives matter: they connect science, talent, resources, and industry in a way that sparks long-term, compounding value. They cultivate strong research institutions, inspire the next generation of scientists, and build the infrastructure around which breakthrough companies emerge.
Israel, he argues, should pursue a focused, well-scoped version of its own “Genesis Mission”, one tailored to the country’s size, strengths, and innovation DNA. This would mean concentrating resources on fields where Israel already has significant advantages, such as advanced energy, computing technologies, optoelectronic systems, materials, and computational biology. These are domains where AI meets the physical world, areas that require deep research investment but can give rise to entire new industries.
Such a mission would also require true cross-sector collaboration. Government, academia, industry, and startups must work together to ensure access to compute, high-quality public datasets, research infrastructure, and clear pathways for innovation. The U.S. is doing this through national labs and tight cooperation with leading tech companies. Israel can build its own version, suited to its scale and strengths.
For Israel to lead in the AI era, it must build robust computing capabilities, structured data access, and research-grade infrastructure accessible to scientists and early-stage companies. Without this, the gap between those who have access to high-performance computing and those who do not will widen and determine who succeeds.
As Lior concludes, Israel should not attempt to replicate the U.S. initiative, but rather create a tailored, flexible national AI strategy that avoids bureaucracy, accelerates decision-making, and bridges institutions. Those who seize this moment will become global technology leaders in the decade ahead.
Read the full article on Calcalist.