Shmuel Harlap, who helped build Israel’s auto and tech industries, dies at 82
The Colmobil chairman and early Mobileye investor combined business, technology, philanthropy and academia.
Dr. Shmuel Harlap, one of Israel's most prominent businessmen and investors, has died at the age of 82. Harlap served, among other roles, as chairman of Colmobil, Israel's largest automobile importer.
According to a statement issued following his death, Harlap's life combined academia and philosophy with business management, pioneering investments in technology, writing on social and economic issues, philanthropy and a passion for endurance sports. Harlap was born in 1944 and held a doctorate in philosophy from Harvard University. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he also taught in the late 1970s. In the early 1980s, he joined the leadership of the family business and helped lead Colmobil's development as its active chairman.
Colmobil was owned by Harlap's father, Amichai, who died in 1975. Shmuel Harlap became chairman of the company in 1982, while his brother Yoav holds a minority stake. Yoav attempted to sell his stake to institutional investors about a year and a half ago.
In 1988, Colmobil, which until then had imported Mercedes vehicles, began importing Mitsubishi cars and later added South Korea's Hyundai. The company gradually grew into Israel's largest automobile importer.
Harlap also became one of Israel's most prominent technology investors. He invested in Mobileye and benefited from the company's $15.3 billion sale to Intel in 2017.
He was also heavily involved in philanthropy. According to the statement, in 2025, Shmuel and his wife, Anat Harlap, donated $10 million to the Weizmann Institute of Science following extensive damage caused to the institute by an Iranian missile strike. The donation was intended to help restore the campus, laboratories and research activities.
Shortly afterward, the couple announced a donation of approximately $180 million to Beilinson Hospital, the largest donation ever made to Israel's health system. The money is intended to establish a new center for heart and brain medicine, to be called the Tower of Hope.
In an interview with Calcalist several days later, Harlap said: "What revolution will I miss? The one that will allow people to live to 120, not 80 like today."
He also described his approach to technology investing: "I am invested in startups. Almost all of my investments are in Israeli startups, some of them fail, but this is life. This is our home, our culture, our economy, and I am proud to do this."
Harlap described himself as a center-left figure, while also expressing a degree of appreciation for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Over the years, Harlap published dozens of articles and opinion columns in the Israeli media on economic, social, political and technological issues. He was also a keen athlete and participated in competitive sports. He ran three full marathons, including his first at the age of 60 in New York, and also competed in the European Rowing Championships.
Harlap is survived by his wife, two children and seven grandchildren.
