Israel’s tech sector is also a major draw for young professionals, with Israel Tech Challenge (ITC) opening the door for talented professionals from Israel and abroad to develop their careers in technology. Established by The Jewish Agency and the Israeli National Cyber Bureau in 2013, and in cooperation with Masa Israel Journey, ITC offers participants both training and job placement in top tech companies in Israel.

With a bachelor’s in electrical engineering, David, from Munich, Germany, wanted a career in high tech in Israel. After discovering ITC, he enrolled in the program through Masa, getting the best of both programs as he got to participate in trips and other Masa activities while developing technical skills and networking extensively with ITC connections.

Inside a class at ITC | Photo provided by ITC

“After my first internship, I applied to and secured another internship at Waze, thanks to their partnership with ITC. Now I’m in the midst of the Aliyah process and have gotten so much crucial support,” shared David. “ITC is quite challenging and a big investment of time and effort, but you really get so much from it.”

“We work with over 300 high-tech companies,” said Shlomo Lifshitz, ITC’s director of registration. “We arrange for students to go to these companies for a period of five weeks to two months, to get hands-on experience by doing a project there and learning the inner workings. At least 50% of them get hired as employees following the project.”