Two Tales in One City — Entrepreneurship and High-Tech Business in Jerusalem

Lanya Feng
Jul 23, 2017 · 4 min read

This city might be the epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but it is also quickly becoming a different kind of a hotbed–a place where high-tech accelerators are providing a hopeful way forward.

Benefiting from an abundance of academic institutions and incentives from the municipal government, Jerusalem creates a flourishing environment that attracts hundreds of companies and investors each year. However, like most the events that happen in this city, this significant growth primarily occurs in West Jerusalem, leaving East Jerusalem struggling to keep up.

West Jerusalem has emerged as a competitive hub for life science and high-tech industry in the previous decade. With strong support from the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDC), the Ministry of Economy and Industry, and other ministries from the state government, companies in the West live in an ecosystem that encourages constructive competition and provides networks for “start-ups” to anchor in the business.

“Jerusalem has the greatest potential for local development for life science and this potential has not been fully exploited,” says Dr. Shay Fleishon, Executive Director of the BioJerusalem Center at The Jerusalem Development Authority from JDA.

For more than 30 years, JDA has supported the growth of what Fleishon calls the ecosystem through grants for start-ups and research. It also hosts events that facilitate communication between companies. With 1,500 companies located in West Jerusalem and increasing monthly, the city is experiencing exponential growth in high-tech and bio-tech industry which fills the shortage gap of high-tech in Israel. Competing with the well-known technological center of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem is now home to many large businesses, both domestic and international such as Intel.

On the other side of town, East Jerusalem is witnessing a different scenario. With 80% of its inhabitants still living under the poverty line, entrepreneurship in this area is born of the struggle for survival. The high cost of living, from consumer goods to apartment rentals, has frustrated many, and the lack of skilled workers to join the workforce increases the unemployment rate. With primarily Arabic speaking inhabitants, East Jerusalem lacks resources and support from the municipal government — people here are primarily “permanent residents” of Israel but few vote in city elections — and its current status hinders it from developing economically. Thus, the area needs a different focus, says one entrepreneur.

“If someone wants to make it in high-tech in Jerusalem, they just go to work in West Jerusalem,” says Rana Qutteineh, the 34-year-old Project Coordinator at Jerusalem Entrepreneurs Society and Technology (JEST), an NGO located in East Jerusalem. “However, with all the problems we are facing right now, we believe entrepreneurship is a solution to many of the problems in East Jerusalem.”

Rana Qutteineh, the Projects Coordinator of JEST (Jerusalem Entrepreneurs Society and Technology).

Serving as a hub for entrepreneurship to promote and support technology, JEST connects people within the community with the larger market and facilitate relationships with the outside world. From internship experiences in companies in West Jerusalem to offering highly subsidized Hebrew language lessons and computer classes for Palestinians trying to get a leg up in the business world, JEST serves to break the barrier between East and the West.

JEST offers a three-month digital training class that teaches students, with up to 47% female, how to navigate the computer world and allow them to find sustainable jobs. While primarily assisting family and other smaller businesses, the NGO also encourages IT start-ups. With 14 companies based in East Jerusalem in 2016, the technological aspect of East Jerusalem is gradually increasing every year.

In 2015, Anan Copty, co-founder and CEO of NonInvasive Medical Devices(NIMD) from East Jerusalem, started getting noticed by medical experts. Supported by JEST, NIMD formulates the treatment of cancer through localized microwave heating among with nanotechnology. NIMD has completed the theoretical stage and is currently testing on animals. Slowly yet steadily, entrepreneurship in this area of the city begins to solve issues and fills the huge gap between East and West.

Palestinians taking Hebrew lessons at JEST.

While East Jerusalem is catching up with the game, location doesn’t always work to their advantage. Qutteineh says JEST has been actively lobbying banks from the West Bank, yet the support is minimum as investors hesitate given NGO’s location, which is under Israel control following its annexation after the Six-Day War in 1967. However, support from Israeli banks is minimal as East Jerusalemites are viewed as people on the other side of the Green Line–and thus a riskier investment. Living in the middle of these entities has made it difficult for East Jerusalem businesses to to survive.

Nevertheless, Qutteineh is still hopeful that JEST will bring a new wave of entrepreneurship to East Jerusalem and will build a sustainable community that one day able to join and compete with other companies in the West. “JEST builds programs to aid entrepreneurship and connects workers with companies. Right now we are still trying to solve local problems, but we believe what we are doing will create a stronger community and break the barriers between East and West Jerusalem.”

Investors in Jerusalem Entrepreneurship at MassChallenge Israel headquarters.

The Jerusalem Project

The work of student journalists reporting from the Middle East as part of ieiMedia Jerusalem

Lanya Feng

Written by

History and Political Science student at McGill University from China. Sometimes I just want to cuddle with cats for the entire day and read a good book.

The Jerusalem Project

The work of student journalists reporting from the Middle East as part of ieiMedia Jerusalem

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