Gloria Holmes
There is currently exciting news about Apple’s research and development work.
The company is expanding this area from Israel to the Palestinian Autonomous Regions. In addition to Germany and the USA, important teams for the development of devices are located in Israel. According to Apple, the new project aims to “create opportunities for Palestinian engineers and address a political issue while promoting Apple’s values.”
2000 engineers working for Apple in Israel
In addition, more than 60 engineers will be employed in the new city of Rawabi in the Palestinian Autonomous Communities, and they will support the development of Apple’s core technologies. There are already 2,000 engineers in the Israeli teams. These are, among other things, working on the further development of the M1 chipset family.
Apple won the Palestinian high-tech company ASAL Technologies as a partner. The project started in 2018 with five employees. Within four years, the team had grown to a strength of 60 people. Now it is expanding again. In the next few years, Apple will employ more people in the Palestinian territories. Johnny Srouji, Senior Vice President of Hardware Technology at Apple (top left in photo) explains the motivations:
“At Apple, we are committed to inclusion and diversity in our global workforce. By creating more opportunities for Palestinian engineers, we see an opportunity to address an important regional issue while promoting Apple’s core values. We know that meaningful changes can only be sustainable if they are beneficial. Also for business. The search for talent in the Palestinian Territories expands the pool of qualified engineers, helping us meet the needs of our growing company.”
Apple has been in Israel for ten years
Johnny Srouji recently met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Herzog pledged his support for the initiative. Bashar Al-Masry, founder of Rawabi (photo above right), is one of the promoters and investors in Palestinian private sector development. Apple’s commitment welcomes:
“Our partnership with Apple provides meaningful jobs and good salaries to more Palestinians every year. Rawabi is a hub for technology and innovation, and the city is thriving, thanks in part to engineers like those at ASAL Technologies who call it home.”
Apple has been operating in Israel for ten years. 2000 employees are now working in Herzliya and Haifa. They have greatly contributed to the development of the M1 series as well as the depth-sensing camera, which is essential for Face ID.
