Eran Shir has helped create about 120 jobs in Israel since he co-founded Nexar, an automotive start-up, in 2015. But this year, as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has embarked on a bitterly contested drive to weaken the judiciary, he has decided to boost activities abroad instead.
“We’re investing more in our locations outside Israel and generating intellectual property outside Israel . . . and we’re actively looking at opening in other locations,” said Shir. “We haven’t done any incremental hiring in Israel this year, but we hired five people in Portugal,” he added, noting that the decisions were “heavily influenced” by the judicial overhaul.
Shir’s decisions reflect the growing alarm among Israeli tech entrepreneurs and business leaders about the economic implications of the overhaul being pushed by Netanyahu’s hardline coalition. The judicial changes have sparked seven months of mass protests, drawn criticism from the US, and prompted thousands of reservists to threaten to stop volunteering for duty.