Much has been said about Wolt in recent months surrounding the uproar over increased service fees and the launch of the Wolt+ subscription program. But it seems that the real action is taking place in the Arab sector, where the fierce competition between Wolt and local players Haat and Salla is leading to intriguing developments. Amid the bankruptcy of Salla (meaning “basket” in Hebrew), and Haat’s withdrawal from expansion in Morocco and the West Bank due to lack of success, the international delivery giant Wolt is stepping up in what appears to be a strategic move toward a massive entry into the Arab community.
The Arab sector is where major companies are setting their sights as they seek new growth opportunities within Israel. It is a young and growing society, with a steadily rising socio-economic status. Technological adaptiveness is quickly closing the gap with the Jewish sector, and the opportunities are appealing.
One of the first platforms to spot this potential was the Haat app, a start-up from Umm al-Fahm, often dubbed “the Wolt of the Arab sector.” Haat expanded from the north to the south and into Jerusalem, operating in both Arab and even Jewish neighborhoods. Recently, the app expanded to Haifa, where it will compete with the dominant Wolt app on Mount Carmel.
While Haat created the market, competitors quickly emerged—among them Salla, which gained significant market share over the past two years by focusing on retail, areas beyond restaurants like supermarkets and convenience stores. In the past week, business owners have reported that Salla is collecting equipment and shutting down the app, apparently due to financial failure. Alongside this, there is a unique phenomenon in the Arab sector of locally focused apps operating on the town or village level.
Wolt, which waited on the sidelines for several years, has changed its direction in the past year. The global giant that took Israel by storm since its 2018 launch in Tel Aviv first launched Arabic-language operations in 2024 in Nazareth and the surrounding areas. That year, it also introduced the Arabic version of the app and began offering Arabic-speaking customer support.
Now, Walla has learned of several moves indicating that Wolt’s plans for the Arab sector are very serious and part of the company’s multi-year strategy.
One such move, underscoring Wolt’s seriousness and focus on the Arab market, is its hiring of the newly founded strategic consulting firm Maximize, led by Salam Sharkiya. Sharkiya has extensive experience in strategy, business development, and marketing, having held senior roles at Coca-Cola and Partner across various sectors. He led major launches including the Monster energy drink brand introduced in Israel in 2020, as well as in the mobile broadband market in his role at Partner (formerly Orange). Most recently, before becoming independent, Sharkiya served as VP of Marketing at Globes for about five years.
Wolt confirmed to Walla that it has hired Maximize’s services and that Sharkiya is a key figure in the company’s strategic planning for this area of operations, but declined to comment on its upcoming expansion plans in the Arab sector. Nonetheless, the moves clearly signal a major expansion trajectory for the company in the coming years—one that is expected to lead to significant competition, from which, hopefully, the customers will benefit.