Welcome to the CCIIF website. It will keep you informed about the Chamber's activities and events, as well as current economic and trade news between Israel and France. It also includes a dedicated area for active CCIIF members.

The Israel-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry was founded in 1957 to help Israeli and French businesses establish and develop trade relations. Since then, we have provided them with a forum where they can benefit from support and assistance through professional networking and expert advice. In addition, the Chamber regularly organizes events such as conferences on the Israeli economy, meetings with Israeli and French leaders, ceremonies recognizing excellence in business relations, and other networking opportunities.

Diplomacy has its ups and downs; good news and bad news can alternate, but the CCIIF's focus is on business, not politics, and we concentrate on the potential outcomes between Israel and France. The remarkably enduring Abraham Accords serve as a prime example of the goals we should strive to achieve.

Despite the upheavals caused by the coronavirus and the war in recent years, the Israel-France Chamber of Commerce has taken several initiatives to continue providing added value to its members and helping them optimize their operations. This new website is the latest example, and we hope you enjoy it.

Has one ever seen a country victim of daily bombings having an economy in full health (for the moment), with a euphoric Tel Aviv Stock Exchange whatever the turmoil of other places around the world? With a rebound in investments? With a shekel at its highest against the dollar, and currency reserves exceeding 200 billion $? The GDP growth is still expected to exceed 4% in 2026 vs 3% last year, although the war will of course impact the budget, and make the Debt-to-GDP ratio probably rise close to 70%. However, the worries related to the war are largely balanced by the hopes for a more smiling future. 

The war has of course a cost, roughly estimated at 400 million $ per day, a figure that includes military expenses, especially the cost of anti-missile defense systems costing millions each, and that of the recall under the flags of 100,000 reservists. The country continues to function despite everything, and both industry and commerce are holding up even if slowed, while small businesses and SMEs are suffering more than average. The still closed schools also weigh on the available workforce.

But “when the building is doing well, everything is doing well”: the construction continues imperturbably in an impressive way. And while air transport suffers from the situation, Israeli ports are operating at full capacity, suggesting what could become of IMEC (India Middle-East Europe Corridor). The Israeli export which is BtoB rather than BtoC is in good shape, with medical and especially Hi-Tech reaching peaks. The defense industry is literally crumbling under orders, and Israel’s success at the ADEX Defense Exhibition of Seoul in October helps forget the mistreatments at EuroSatory and Le Bourget.

"How is this war different from all other wars?" could we say on this Pesach eve. It is firstly the uncertainty about the duration of the war: 2 weeks like last June? several months according to what Trump and Netanyahu suggest? No one really knows... But the major disparity concerns the day after: for the first time in decades, the Israelis foresee the possibility of a future from which not only would the Iranian Islamist enemy be absent, but where in a peaceful Middle-East one would find a coalition of all Arab countries of the Gulf with whom Israel would live in good understanding in expanded Abraham’s Accords.

What about the Chamber of Commerce in all that? CCIIF keeps its back round, maintains constant contact with its members, expands its partnerships and works quietly to prepare tomorrow.

Challenging but exhilarating.

Julien Roitman