In a fascinating conversation with Dr. Aviv Zeevi, Deputy Director and Head of the Technological Infrastructure Division at the Israel Innovation Authority, a surprising picture emerges of Israel’s leadership in future technologies. Despite geopolitical challenges, Israel continues to lead in fields such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and synthetic biology, with strategic investments yielding global breakthroughs. The “Political Science” podcast by Maariv reveals the global technological race and the efforts to preserve Israel’s competitive edge.

Lior Novik: Can you describe your role at the Innovation Authority so the audience can understand how you influence the field of future technologies?

Dr. Aviv Zeevi: I’ve been in public service for 15 years, and today I head the Technological Infrastructure Division at the Innovation Authority. The division manages two main funds: One is the Research Fund, which deals with academic research and joint research through large-scale MAGNET consortia projects; the second is the Databases and Laboratories Fund, which establishes technological infrastructure for use by Israel’s high-tech industry to develop the next big thing.

Lior Novik: When people talk about future technologies, most think of artificial intelligence. But there are many areas in need of breakthroughs. Tell us about the work you do with Israel’s technological infrastructure.

Dr. Aviv Zeevi: The entire world is in a technological race. You can see it in nearly every other headline in the press. There’s a clear understanding that technological advancement enables economic breakthroughs, so all countries are constantly trying to identify the next big thing.

On the path to finding the next big thing, there’s a wide spread of technologies developed in academia or by large companies. These technologies form the foundation on which we can build companies within Israel’s high-tech industry.

Part of our role at the Innovation Authority is to identify future technologies. We scan a vast range of databases and patents, try to spot the upcoming innovations, and understand where Israel has a technological advantage. We’re modest and understand that we can’t lead in everything. Therefore, part of our goal is to identify the technologies in which we at least need to acquire basic knowledge, and others where we can truly lead and develop companies that will be global leaders.

Lior Novik: What are we particularly strong in?

Dr. Aviv Zeevi: We’re strong in many areas. We’re very strong in algorithmics. Most breakthrough companies in Israel operate in cyber and enterprise software — companies capable of both protecting knowledge and extracting insights from it.

Thanks to this, we also lead in fields like artificial intelligence. We are certainly in the top five worldwide in terms of the number of companies, human capital, patents, and so on.

We lead in cyber, and we’re beginning to develop amazing capabilities in quantum computing. We are among the top five countries globally in fundraising for quantum computing companies. We’re succeeding in developing strong chip design capabilities, and we lead in integrating biological abilities with hardware and software development.

Lior Novik: Quantum computing is one of those topics that doesn’t get much attention globally, even though many countries are racing after it. Why is it so important? How is it supposed to help nations?

Dr. Aviv Zeevi: Quantum computing lies at the heart of the geopolitical struggle. The truth is, artificial intelligence gets more media attention because it’s more accessible and closer to our daily lives. But the real technological breakthrough, in terms of gaining insights and protecting knowledge, will actually come from quantum computing.

Its processing power can be far more significant and powerful — at least for solving certain problems. Its data encryption capabilities are enormous, and whoever holds data processing capabilities and achieves supremacy in quantum computing will lead the global technological front.

Currently, this capability is mostly held by major American corporations, but it is gradually trickling into other companies. Those who don’t know how to develop quantum processors and quantum algorithmics won’t be able to protect their knowledge or generate insights superior to others.

Lior Novik: Are we talking about just another kind of processor that will be commonplace in ten years, or is this something that, if a country gains access to it first, will mark a significant shift?

Dr. Aviv Zeevi: The question is always whether it’s revolutionary or evolutionary. On the technological level, the fact that quantum computing allows us to calculate based on much lower probabilities — rather than binary 0 or 1 — means it has the potential to be a major game-changer.

We’re not quite there yet, even though we’ve already reached quantum computers with thousands of qubits (quantum bits). The problems that quantum computers currently solve are still small or less critical.

It’s not just another form of data processing. Today, globally, there’s a battle over many different processing methods — neuromorphic processing, photonic processing, optical processing, and of course, binary processing. In quantum computing, you can use far fewer processors. If you develop a good processor that can handle a few hundred qubits, you may already outperform thousands of AI accelerators that exist today.

Lior Novik: How does your approach work as a government body that has to think like a private company? How do you work with companies?

Dr. Aviv Zeevi: We’re a bit unusual in the government sector. On the one hand, all the funding we allocate comes from the budget of the Ministry of Finance’s Budget Division. On the other hand, when we fund something, we almost always request matching funds from the private sector. Our goal is to reduce the private sector’s risk and work in partnership with it.

At the same time, we try not to operate like a typical private-sector venture capital fund. A standard VC fund wants to reach an exit as quickly as possible. We take a long-term view — our goal is to develop a strong Israeli high-tech industry that will remain in Israel and not chase the next quick exit abroad.