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Does Ford support Israel?

Ford Motor Company

Business presence documentedupdated 2026-09-26

Ford does business in Israel — we found records of its operations there, but no record of donations, aid, or a public statement of support. Every claim below links to its source.

Filed under: Car & automotive brands · Companies that support Israel

Background

Attribution notes: founder Henry Ford was a notorious antisemite in the 1920s, but later leadership reversed course. Henry Ford II personally donated $100,000 to the Israel Emergency Fund during the 1967 war and $50,000 to a United Jewish Appeal campaign — personal gifts, not corporate donations. The Ford Foundation, which appears in some viral lists, has had no ties to Ford Motor Company for decades. Globes reported in April 2011 that the Foundation was ending its Israel grant-making: two consecutive five-year rounds of $20 million each, channelled from 2003 through the New Israel Fund to Israeli universities and research institutes and to human-rights groups including B'Tselem and Adalah, would run out in 2013, and the Foundation said it had given more than $70 million in Israel since 1948 — the Foundation's money, not the company's. Ford vehicles are sold in Israel by an independent local importer, not a Ford subsidiary. In December 2024, Ford's X account was briefly hacked and posted anti-Israel messages ('Israel is a terrorist state'); Ford deleted them and said they were unauthorized. Who Profits, an advocacy research centre, lists Ford over Ford-badged trucks used by the Israeli military and police, and describes Elbit Systems, MDT Armor and other Israeli firms as Ford 'partners.' Checked against Israeli press and industry sources, these are not Ford's own acts. Since 1999 Ford's exclusive Israeli importer has been Delek Motors, which sells Ford vehicles — including any bought by government fleets — into the Israeli market; Ynet reported in 2001 that about 1,000 Ford F350 trucks (~$40 million) went to the Israeli army, without naming the contracting party, and Who Profits' own footnotes for that figure cite Delek Motors' corporate and stock-exchange records rather than a Ford–IDF agreement. Hebrew press bounds that fleet at the other end: Globes reported in February 2013 that after ten years of buying heavy Ford pickups the IDF would switch to thousands of Chrysler/Dodge pickups, in a tender paid for out of US security assistance and therefore open only to American manufacturers, and named Delek Motors as the importer the Ford business had belonged to. Separately, Israeli defense manufacturers have converted ordinary commercially bought Ford F-550 and F-350 chassis into armored vehicles entirely on their own account: Carmor Integrated Vehicle Solutions (formerly Hatehof) built the 'Wolf' armored personnel carrier on an F550 chassis from 2003; Plasan built its 'SandCat' family, delivered to Israel's Ministry of Defense, on the same chassis; and the IAI–Elbit Systems joint venture G-NIUS fitted remote-control and camera systems to Ford F-350 pickups to create the 'Border Protector' Gaza-border patrol vehicle from 2015. In every documented case the conversion, arming and supply to Israeli security forces was carried out by these Israeli companies, not by Ford, which manufactures and sells an unmodified commercial truck. No partnership agreement between Ford and Elbit Systems or MDT Armor was found; Who Profits' 'partners' listing is rejected as unsupported.

The Henry Ford — Henry Ford and antisemitism San Diego Jewish World JTA — Ford Foundation has no ties to Ford Motor Co. Times of Israel — Ford apologizes for hacked X posts Who Profits — Ford Motor Company profile Who Profits — "Ford's Sales to the Israeli Army" report Delek Motors (official) — Ford importer, Israel Ynet (2001) — Ford F350 deal with the Israeli army Ynet (2003) — Hatehof/Carmor armors Ford F550 into the "Wolf" APC Wikipedia — Carmor / Wolf Armoured Vehicle Wikipedia — Plasan SandCat Fox News — "Border Protector" UGV (Ford F-350 converted by Elbit Systems/G-NIUS) Globes (2011) — Ford Foundation to end Israel grants via the New Israel Fund (Internet Archive) Globes (2013) — IDF switches from heavy Ford pickups to Chrysler/Dodge (Internet Archive)

Timeline of documented records

196419721980198819962004201220201966 — Operations in Israel: Israeli market (local assembly licensee; from 1968 Automotive Industries Ltd., Nazareth)Operations in Israel19662016-08 — Acquisition: SAIPS (Rehovot-based computer vision and machine learning company)Acquisition2016-082019-06 — Operations in Israel: Ford Research Center Israel (Tel Aviv)Operations in Israel2019-062020-07 — Government contract: Mobileye (Jerusalem-based Intel subsidiary)Government contract2020-07

Documented records

TypeDateAmountRecipientSources
Operations in Israel1966—Israeli market (local assembly licensee; from 1968 Automotive Industries Ltd., Nazareth)
Ford licensed an Israeli company to assemble knocked-down Ford vehicles, a deal that put Ford on the Arab League boycott blacklist from 1966. The company refused to withdraw: chairman Henry Ford II said "Nobody's gonna tell me what to do," and in 1981 Ford Mid-East and Africa president K. D. Holloway reiterated that boycott threats "will not sway" Ford from doing business in Israel. Licensee assembly in Nazareth ran from 1968 to 1975; Ford vehicles have since been sold in Israel through an independent importer.
Acquisition2016-08—SAIPS (Rehovot-based computer vision and machine learning company)
Acquired Israeli computer-vision and machine-learning company SAIPS — Ford's first acquisition in Israel — to develop algorithms for its autonomous-vehicle program. The price was not disclosed; Israeli media reported several tens of millions of dollars. Ford wound the SAIPS team down in September 2023 after exiting the Argo AI self-driving venture.
Operations in Israel2019-06—Ford Research Center Israel (Tel Aviv)
Opened the Ford Research Center, Israel in Tel Aviv's Adgar 360 building, inaugurated by executive chairman Bill Ford, who called Israeli tech part of the "lifeblood of future Ford." The center scouts Israeli startups in connectivity, sensors, in-vehicle monitoring and cybersecurity and housed a vehicle lab alongside the SAIPS team (about 60 people at peak). When SAIPS was shut in September 2023, Ford said it would keep "focusing our commitment to and involvement in the Israel innovation and technology community through the Ford Research Center located in Tel Aviv."
Government contract2020-07—Mobileye (Jerusalem-based Intel subsidiary)
Selected Jerusalem-based Mobileye as its vision-sensing supplier for advanced driver-assistance systems across Ford's global lineup, using the EyeQ camera-based technology for collision avoidance, starting with the F-150 and Mustang Mach-E, with Mobileye branding displayed in Ford vehicles.

Frequently asked questions

Did Ford donate money to Israel or Israeli causes?

We have no records of donations. What is on record is commercial activity in Israel (Operations in Israel, Acquisition, Government contract), which is not the same as support — see the records on this page.

Where does this information come from?

Every record on this page links to its source — news reports, official company statements, tax filings, or government records. 23 distinct sources are cited for Ford. Our methodology page explains the full verification process.

Sources & citations

Record last updated: 2026-09-26

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