ByGOLDIE KATZ
Updated:

Israel has joined the Pax Silica Initiative, an international coalition aimed at securing the supply chain for materials used to create semiconductors utilized in advanced artificial-intelligence (AI) technology, the Prime Minister’s Office reported Saturday.

National Economic Council chairman Avi Simhon said Israel’s participation in Pax Silica is “a badge of honor for the State of Israel and the Israeli hi-tech industry.”

“Together with our international partners, we are working to fortify the global AI industry, strengthen the resilience of supply chains, and ensure the economic and security prosperity of the participating countries and their citizens,” he said.

Other member nations in the United States-led coalition include the United Arab Emirates, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Taiwan, Canada, the European Union, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will be guest contributors to the operation of the coalition, according to a US government fact sheet.

Students dressed in white protective suit and a face mask visit a clean room as part of a summer camp organised by US chip designer Synopsys with the goal to attract more youth to Taiwan's semiconductor industry, in Hsinchu, Taiwan July 18, 2025.
Students dressed in white protective suit and a face mask visit a clean room as part of a summer camp organised by US chip designer Synopsys with the goal to attract more youth to Taiwan's semiconductor industry, in Hsinchu, Taiwan July 18, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/ANN WANG/FILE PHOTO)

Creating a secure, innovative technological ecosystem

The initiative’s stated goal is to establish an international framework to “unite the leading technology nations and jointly establish the economic order of the AI era” through the building of a “secure, resilient, and innovative technological ecosystem,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

This includes securing the extraction of materials and minerals used to manufacture chips and AI infrastructure, facilitating the creation of data centers, and overseeing the logistics involved in such operations.

The coalition said it intends to protect sensitive, innovative technologies from “access or control by hostile nations.”

The trustworthy, secure systems the initiative aims to facilitate are “essential for safeguarding mutual security and prosperity,” the US fact sheet said, adding that the coalition was created in response to “increasing risks from coercive dependencies.”

The name of the coalition is a combination of the Latin term, Pax, meaning “peace, stability, and enduring prosperity,” and Silica, “a chemical element essential for producing the chips required for the age of AI,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.