Nvidia nears decision on Israel mega-campus after state approval
Land council clears discounted lease for headquarters expected to house up to 8,000 employees.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and the Israel Land Authority Council on Tuesday approved the allocation of approximately 90 dunams of land in Kiryat Tivon to Nvidia, for the establishment of the company’s new headquarters, at a discount of about NIS 70 million (approximately $21.7 million). The decision now moves to Nvidia’s management, which must determine whether to sign the agreement with the state and proceed with building the headquarters in the northern town. Estimates suggest a decision will be made within the coming days.
Under the approved framework, Nvidia will be required to pay lease fees of approximately NIS 90 million ($27.9M), excluding VAT, instead of the roughly NIS 160 million ($49.5M) that would typically be charged to a standard tenant. In addition, the Israel Land Authority will collect development costs for the plot totaling around NIS 45 million ($14M).
The arrangement required final approval from the Israel Land Authority and the signatures of the defense and finance ministers, as Israeli law mandates ministerial approval for state land transactions involving entities not registered in Israel. Approval by the Israel Land Council was also necessary because Nvidia was granted a discounted rate usually reserved for designated national priority areas, even though Kiryat Tivon is not included in that classification.
The council’s decision was made despite opposition from the Jewish National Fund (JNF), which owns most of the land allocated for the Nvidia campus. Under existing agreements, the Israel Land Authority manages JNF land and transfers revenues from land marketing to the fund annually, making the discount a point of contention. However, the JNF lacks veto power if a majority of the council supports the decision, which it did.
Nvidia plans to construct a campus with a built-up area of up to 180,000 square meters, roughly five times the size of its current facilities in Yokneam, where it employs about 3,000 people. The new campus is expected to accommodate approximately 8,000 employees at any given time. Due to Nvidia’s flexible employment model, individual workspaces may be shared by multiple employees.
With roughly 5,000 employees in Israel, Nvidia is already the country’s second-largest foreign employer after Intel. Unlike Intel, however, Nvidia continues to expand rapidly in the wake of the AI boom and currently has around 400 open positions.
