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Tel Aviv Stock Exchange up nearly 100% since Gaza war

Foreign investors purchased local shares worth $1.27 billion last year, primarily of companies in the financial and defense sectors.

Bill Ackman, Tel Aviv
Bill Ackman (second from left), CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, rings the opening bell of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, accompanied by (from left) Ittai Ben Zeev, CEO of TASE; Yosef (“Seffy”) Zinger, chairman of the Israel Securities Authority; and TASE chairman and professor Eugene Kandel, Sept. 9, 2025. Photo by Elad Gutman.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange reached record highs last year, outperforming global markets, including the U.S., despite the war against Hamas in Gaza and military strikes in Iran, according to data the TASE released on Wednesday.

The TA-35 Index of blue chip companies surged by 51.6%, and the TA-90 Index increased 46.6% last year, according to the TASE 2025 Annual Review. By comparison, the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 increased 17.9%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up 21%.

Since the initial plunge in the Tel Aviv market triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, the TA-35 index has surged 98%, and the TA-90 index jumped 94%, the Tel Aviv bourse data showed.

Foreign investors purchased local shares worth $1.27 billion last year, primarily of companies in the financial and defense sectors, after a sell-off the previous year, the report showed.

Trading volumes on the Tel Aviv stock market also broke records last year, increasing 57% compared to 2024, to a daily average of $1 billion.

“The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s exceptional performance in 2025 is a testament to the profound resilience of the Israeli economy,” Yaniv Pagot, EVP/head of trading in the TASE, told JNS on Wednesday.

“Even amidst a complex multi-front conflict, our flagship indices reached historic highs, frequently outperforming global benchmarks and solidifying Tel Aviv as a premier destination for international capital,” Pagot said.

Alon Turkaspa, director of global partnerships at Startup Nation Central, an Israeli nonprofit promoting innovation, said, “The TASE’s strong performance following the war reflects renewed confidence in the structural strength of Israel’s tech ecosystem, not just a rebound effect.

“As geopolitical conditions improve, investors are recognizing an ecosystem that continued to execute, integrate into global platforms, and build durable partnerships even during crisis, translating resilience into measurable economic performance,” Turkaspa said.

Beginning in January, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange switched to Monday through Friday trading, in line with world markets.

For the past 50 years, Israel’s stock exchange traded on Sunday through Thursday, aligning with the regular working days of the Jewish state. Under the new system, Friday’s trading ends at 2 p.m. out of respect for the Sabbath, which starts at sundown on Fridays.

Etgar Lefkovits, an award-winning international journalist, is an Israel correspondent and a feature news writer for JNS. A native of Chicago, he has two decades of experience in journalism, having served as Jerusalem correspondent in one of the world’s most demanding positions. He is currently based in Tel Aviv.
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