Regional councils in northern Israel are battling it out to attract Nvidia, in the wake of the US chip giant's announcement earlier this week that it will invest NIS 2 billion in land and construction for a 180,000 square meter campus near to its current Israel headquarters in Yokneam.
Nvidia Israel country director Nati Amsterdam told the Israel Data Center Association (IDCA) conference yesterday, "We have been contacted by heads of local authorities from Dan to Eilat," while sources have told "Globes" that Nvidia has already received documents setting out their advantages from the Sagi 2000 industrial park in the Jezreel Valley, Tziporit industrial park near Nof Hagalil, and the Afula Municipality.
But experts familiar with Nvidia and the data centers industry in Israel agree, the Mevo Carmel Science and Industry Park is already the major favorite to win.
Rights shared with other authorities
The industrial park, located between Elyakim and Kibbutz Ramot Menashe is is seen as fitting best with Nvidia's needs and the level of infrastructure it requires. It is only eight kilometers southwest of Nvidia Israel's headquarters in Yokne'am, is near Road 6 - the Cross-Israel highway, has extensive land reserves, park areas and restaurants, a low corporate tax rate and access to nearby high-voltage lines and a private power plant.
The park is already closely linked to Nvidia. At the start of the year, the chip giant built its largest data center in Israel for internal use, with 30 megawatts capacity at an investment of over $500 million. It is currently building a more powerful data center with 63 megawatts capacity, which when completed will be the most powerful data center in Israel, even though it will be used exclusively by Nvidia. The park is defined as a Priority A area for industry, meaning it enjoys a low corporate tax rate (5%-7%).
Mevo Carmel is in the Megiddo Regional Council on the western edge of the Jezreel Valley. Council head Gil Lin is also chairman of the Mevo Carmel Science and Industry Park. The rights to the park are shared with other local authorities, with Megiddo holding 30% and the rest in the hands of Yokneam Illit (30%), Daliyat al-Carmel (20%) and Isfya (20%), which share in municipal tax revenues estimated last year at around NIS 16 million, which should increase to NIS 60 million after its 580 dunams (145 acres) expansion plan is approved next to the Ein Tut interchange, in addition to the existing 548 dunams (137 acres).
The expansion will only be on the market in two to three years. Those who will benefit from this, apart from established areas such as the Ramot Menashe, Daliya and Mishmar HaEmek kibbutzim, are the Druze settlements on the Carmel, for whom the park is a major revenue channel - another consideration that will make it easier for Nvidia to make a decision to locate in the nearby park.
Mevo Carmel possesses two critical assets for a company like Nvidia, which is planning to build advanced AI infrastructure in the north - it is close to the main power lines that reach from the center to the Haifa area via Hadera, and it is adjacent to the Hagit power plant, which produces 840 megawatts using natural gas.
After completing construction of the data center Nvidia is currently building, it will consume about 100 megawatts of the total production at the Hagit power plant. Four transformers from the Israel Electric Company are already being installed there, providing Nvidia with electricity with 30 megawatts capacity.
The downside: no public transport infrastructure
Mevo Carmel has 14 dunams (3.5 acres) of green space that can be used by employees, and another planned 1,800 square meter area for restaurants and cafes. It houses a mix of tech factories such as pharmaceutical company Unipharm, logistics facilities, Maccabi Health Services Mega Lab - a huge complex that provides service for most lab tests in the north, the Apollo Carmel solar energy technology factory Apollo Carmel and Alumlite.
The park also has several notable disadvantages, such as the lack of public transport infrastructure. Although it is close by Road 6, it is far from railways stations and bus lines. The local council plans to expand the Elyakim Interchange with a bus terminal and is negotiating with Egged and the Ministry of Transport about express bus lines from Tel Aviv and Haifa and setting up a "park and ride" lot at the Elyakim Interchange that will shuttle employees to the park.
In addition, Mevo Carmel is considered expensive compared with land in Afula, Migdal HaEmek and Kiryat Ata. The most expensive deal in the park was estimated at NIS 5.3 million per 1,000 square meters, while a deal closed about a year ago was closed at a price of NIS 5.1 million per 1,000 square meters. The council sees the high prices as justified due to the facilities and qualities it offers, proximity to Road 6 and a talented workforce of tech workers from surrounding communities. However, the price is more expensive than Nvidia is willing to invest in buying land - no more than NIS 500 million, but the assessment in the industry is that Mevo Carmel may offer the area at a discount to attract Nvidia to the park.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 10, 2025.
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