The land allocation agreement for Nvidia’s new campus in Kiryat Tivon is expected to be signed within the next day or two, Israel Land Authority Director Yaakov Yanki Quint said Monday evening, after receiving approval from Israel’s defense and foreign ministers.
The approvals were required under Israel’s Land Law because Nvidia is a foreign-controlled company. The deal will allow the global technology giant to establish a new development campus on state land, allocated without a public tender and at a 51% discount.
Speaking to ynet, Quint said the transaction had already been approved by the Israel Land Authority’s management and that the Israel Land Council had authorized the 51% land discount. He said the authority would publish payment vouchers and technical specifications on Tuesday.
“We are completing the deal with Nvidia. This is major news for Israel in general and for the north in particular,” Quint said. Nvidia has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Last month, Kiryat Tivon emerged as the leading candidate in the competition to host Nvidia’s new campus, following a meeting at the Israel Land Authority attended by senior officials from the Planning Administration, the Transportation Ministry, the Israel Electric Corp. and Nvidia representatives. The meeting concluded with a decision to move forward with a land allocation exempt from a tender process.
According to the plan, Nvidia will build a unique, large-scale campus unlike any previously seen in Israel, modeled in part on the company’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The project is expected to span approximately 160,000 square meters and employ about 8,000 workers.
The proposed 51% land discount is valued at tens of millions of shekels. Officials cited the significant economic impact on northern Israel, noting that thousands of employees would work directly at the campus and that hundreds of additional businesses are expected to benefit from providing services to the site.
The development agreement will include special conditions reflecting the project’s scale and complexity. One provision sets a seven-year development period, acknowledging the extensive construction involved. If additional time is required, Nvidia will be able to request an extension, and subject to meeting the agreement’s terms, may receive up to three additional years without extra payment. The clause is intended to accommodate the project’s distinctive architectural design and coordination with Nvidia’s overseas headquarters.
Another condition allows Nvidia to withdraw from the agreement if the required zoning plan is not approved. In such a case, the company would return the land free of liens or third-party claims, and the Israel Land Authority would refund the amount paid, minus usage fees for the period the land was held.
The planned site is located in the “Kiryat Tivon Employment Campus” area on the western edge of the town, near Highway 6, the Emek Interchange and the Jezreel Valley railway line. The plan covers about 90 dunams and includes employment and commercial areas, leisure and tourism facilities, roads and open public spaces.
The project also includes 12,000 square meters of commercial and employment space in buildings ranging from seven to 10 stories. A public transportation terminal is planned within the complex to serve routes from the north, east and west.
Officials said Nvidia made clear it requires a larger site than the currently approved plan allows and would not proceed without sufficient expansion. As a result, the authority recommended allocating additional land through a separate planning authorization agreement.
Dozens of municipalities competed to attract Nvidia, offering extensive incentives. Among the leading contenders were Yokneam, where Nvidia already operates offices and expansion plans exist, and Haifa, which proposed the Matam High-Tech Park. Other bidders included Migdal HaEmek, Afula, Harish and Netanya.
Nvidia’s Israeli development center is already the company’s second largest worldwide after the United States, employing more than 5,000 people. The scale of the planned construction suggests Nvidia intends to double or even triple its workforce in Israel in the coming years.
Founded as a graphics computing company focused on gaming, Nvidia is now valued at an estimated $4.7 trillion and employs more than 36,000 engineers, researchers and developers across 38 countries. The company has become a global leader in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, driven by its graphics processing units, which are central to data centers and the generative AI revolution.