WALL STREET JOURNAL
by Orr Hirschauge
June 12, 2014

Government Programs Offer Mentoring, Funding to Help Haredim Break Into Tech Sector

TEL AVIV—Amid Israel’s tech boom, the government and many of the country’s biggest tech employers are scrambling to bridge a gap between those who write JavaScript and those who read scripture.

Israel’s tech-savvy defense industry and its small internal market have combined to help the country become a bigger player in the global tech industry. That has led to a bevy of startups and given rise to a community of tech entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, a wave of deal making, public listings and venture-capital funding has made Tel Aviv one of the world’s brightest tech hubs.

But a large and fast-growing swath of Israel’s population is missing out—the country’s ultra-Orthodox Jews, or haredim.

“Until a couple of years ago the ultraorthodox had no part in ‘Startup Nation,'” said Yitzik Crombie, founder and chief executive of iSale Global, a haredi startup and co-founder of the Haredi High-Tech Forum, a recently registered nonprofit organization.

Earlier last month, the economy ministry’s chief scientist, Avi Hasson, unveiled two initiatives: 200 hours of free mentoring offered to haredi entrepreneurs; and a new state-funded program for ultraorthodox startups of up to 2 million Israeli shekels (about $578,200).

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