Intel's new line of processors launched at last week’s CES 2026 exhibition in Las Vegas was largely developed in Israel during the height of the war with Hamas and Hezbollah, with the Israeli employees describing the achievement as “a miracle.”
“We had to rely on teams in India for a period, but the heart of the development remained here. Despite the missiles and the alarms, we didn’t miss a single milestone,” Intel’s Product Manager for both Core Ultra Series 3 and Core Series 4, Mitch Lum, told Israeli site Calcalist.
Intel describes this new product as revolutionary, with the CES presentation assuring that it will enable longer battery life, smoother performance, and support for last-gen Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs without requiring a constant connection.
The launch also impacted Intel's share value, mainly after receiving support from US President Donald Trump, who said, “The United States Government is proud to be a shareholder of Intel,” following a meeting with the company's CEO, Lip-Bu Tan.
“We made a great deal, and so did Intel. Our country is determined to bring leading-edge chip manufacturing back to America, and that is exactly what is happening!” Trump said on Truth Social, in a statement that was followed by a rise in Intel’s shares.
According to a CNBC report, stocks jumped 10% after the US President's comments, while a Calcalist report marked the shares an 80% up annually and a 20% up only in the first weeks of 2026.
Israel repeats Intel’s miracle
This is not the first time that an Israeli team has managed to leave its mark on an Intel chip, working through a war and delivering even under constant attacks.
In 2006, the Israeli branch of Intel was key in pushing the company towards a more energy-focused processor rather than one that only aimed to improve its capacities and benchmarks.
The Core 2 Duo chip was the cherry on top of Israeli development for Intel in 2006, and was developed while the Second Lebanon War was happening, kilometres away from the Haifa offices of Intel, where the chip was engineered.
20 years later, Itzik Silas, a senior vice president at Intel, described to Calcalist a similar situation regarding his team. “They understood they were fighting for their home, literally,” he told the Israeli newspaper and added, “If we don’t do it great, they’ll shut us down.”