Dean Leitersdorf
Co-founder and CEO, Decart
Builder
Why they matterDecart builds real-time video and world models. Raised $300M at a $4B valuation in May 2026.
May 2026: Decart raises $300M
Who’s shaping AI in Israel
The builders, researchers, policymakers, investors, explainers and critics moving AI forward in Israel. Every entry links to a source and to the moments on our timeline.
- People
- 6
- Last checked
- 2 Oct 2026
Yoav Goldberg
Professor of Computer Science, Bar-Ilan University
Researcher
Why they matterLanguage model researcher whose neural NLP work is widely cited and built on.
Checked 2 Oct 2026
Erez Askal
Director, National AI Directorate, Prime Minister's Office
Policymaker
Why they matterHeads the directorate that runs Israel's national AI program, approved in Jun 2026.
Jun 2026: national AI program approved
Oren Zeev
Founder, Zeev Ventures
Investor
Why they matterRepeat backer of Decart and other Israeli startups.
Checked 2 Oct 2026
Yuval Noah Harari
Professor of History, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Explainer
Why they matterWrote Nexus (2024) on AI and information networks. Spoke on AI at Davos 2026.
Checked 2 Oct 2026
Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler
Senior Fellow, Israel Democracy Institute
Critic & watchdog
Why they matterWarns that Israel's election law does not cover AI deepfakes and chatbot disinformation.
Checked 2 Oct 2026
On the AIooze timeline
Moments these people shaped
Nothing on our timeline names these people yet. Key moments are on each profile.