{"id":186045,"date":"2026-10-22T09:58:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T06:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/?p=186045"},"modified":"2026-10-21T18:19:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T15:19:30","slug":"rafael-surges-in-jerusalem-50-workforce-growth-at-har-hotzvim-development-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/rafael-surges-in-jerusalem-50-workforce-growth-at-har-hotzvim-development-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Surges in Jerusalem: 50% Workforce Growth at Har Hotzvim Development Center"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is expanding its operations in Jerusalem, just one year after inaugurating its development center in Har Hotzvim. The number of employees at the site has increased by approximately 50% over the past year, reaching around 270. The company is now preparing for further expansion, including the full occupancy of the building and the relocation of a subsidiary&#8217;s operations to the campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The figures were presented during a visit by Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion to the development center, hosted by Rafael Chairman Prof. Yuval Steinitz. Senior representatives from the company and the municipality also attended, including Jerusalem Development Authority Director General Tzachi Namir and City Engineer Yoel Even.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Jerusalem facility covers approximately 20,000 square meters across seven floors, housing offices, development laboratories and technological workspaces. Employees from Jerusalem and the surrounding area work on engineering, research, technology and manufacturing projects undertaken by the defense company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Will Rafael Expand Its Operations in Jerusalem&#8217;s Har Hotzvim?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the company&#8217;s plans, operations of its subsidiary Cielo Inertial Solutions are expected to relocate to the campus by the end of 2026, while full occupancy of the building is planned for 2027. The expansion is expected to increase the site&#8217;s technological activity and create additional employment opportunities in engineering and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, Rafael is working to strengthen its cooperation with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, particularly in advanced technological research and development and the transfer of knowledge between academia and industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rafael Chairman Prof. Yuval Steinitz noted: &#8220;We see the Jerusalem site as a significant knowledge center for Rafael. The decision to expand our operations in Jerusalem is part of Rafael&#8217;s growth strategy and our desire to remain close to centers of knowledge, research and technological talent across Israel. The Jerusalem site allows us to strengthen our connection with academia, particularly the Hebrew University, and deepen our research and technological collaborations.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion noted: &#8220;Rafael&#8217;s decision to expand its operations in the city represents a strong vote of confidence in Jerusalem&#8217;s economic and technological future. We are investing substantial resources in infrastructure development, strengthening high-quality employment and creating the best possible conditions for leading companies in the economy.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rafael&#8217;s expansion forms part of broader efforts to strengthen Jerusalem&#8217;s technology employment sector. The city is home to major academic and research institutions, yet faces competition for skilled professionals from Israel&#8217;s central technology hubs. The longer-term test will be not only the growth in employee numbers but also the ability to sustain high-quality technological jobs for residents of Jerusalem and its surrounding communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is expanding its operations in Jerusalem, just one year after inaugurating its development center in Har Hotzvim. The number of employees at the site has increased by approximately 50% over the past year, reaching around 270. The company is now preparing for further expansion, including the full occupancy of the building [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":186046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"10329","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,26,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-186045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-26","category-68"],"acf":{"subtitle":"Rafael is expanding its operations in Jerusalem, with approximately 270 employees at its Har Hotzvim campus and plans for further expansion and deeper research partnerships with the Hebrew University"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186045"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186048,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186045\/revisions\/186048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}