What's Apple's Tim Cook Doing In Israel?

Apple Inc.'sAAPLTimes of Israel, Cook told the Israeli President that he has "an enormous admiration for Israel, not just as an important ally for the U.S., but as a place to do business." Cook also discussed his experience in integrating disadvantaged communities to increase their tech skills and how this can be applied to Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities and Arab citizens to improve their participation rate in the economy, particularly in high-tech. Apple's relationship with Israel goes back to 2012 when the company acquired Anobit, a maker of flash memory products that are now used in many of Apple's products. In 2013, Apple acquired PrimeSense, the company behind Microsoft Corporation's Xbox Kinect Motion controller. According to the publication's sources who are familiar with Apple's operations in Israel, the company has recently hired dozens of engineers who are "bringing with them knowledge that Apple does not currently possess, and they will get a finished product almost specifically made for them. It's part of Apple's new strategy of developing the technology it needs in-house, instead of relying on outside companies and contractors." 9to5mac also reported that Cook's visit is related to the company's new set of offices being opened in Herzlyia, a city with a high concentration of high-tech industries and research and development centers. Traveling with Cook to Israel is the company's Vice President of Hardware Technologies, Johny Srugi who was educated at Israel's Technion University. Cook arrived in Israel from a trip that took him to Germany where he met with Chancellor Angela Merkel and Belgium where he met with European Commission leaders.