New U.S.-Israel “Innovation Hub” Launched for Critical and Emerging Technologies.
The CET Sandbox will host events, showcases, challenges, networking between companies in two allied nations that share strategic interests
A coalition of U.S. venture capital firms, national security experts, industry associations, corporations and defense contractors have recently unveiled The CET Sandbox, a new U.S.-Israel “innovation hub” for Critical and Emerging Technologies.
The CET Sandbox, based in Washington, D.C., and Tel Aviv, Israel, will feature exhibitions, technology showcases, demos, collaborations, networking, research, and opportunities for engagement between U.S. and Israeli companies focused on national security and Critical and Emerging Technologies.
“The U.S. and Israel have enjoyed a robust and multifaceted relationship rooted in shared strategic interests,” says Scott Cohen, General Partner at AGP Ventures, which helped conceive and launch The CET Sandbox. Those strategic interests, says Cohen, were bolstered by a 2022 U.S.-Israel joint statement on technology collaboration, which pledged to advance and protect Critical and Emerging Technologies. “The CET Sandbox is a private-sector response, aimed at establishing more robust infrastructure for business-to-business collaboration on those Critical and Emerging Technologies.”
The term “Critical and Emerging Technologies” refers to a list of 18 advanced technologies that are significant to U.S. national security. The list, which was created by a subcommittee of the White House National Science and Technology Council, anchors a whole-of-government approach that applies to several national security and regulatory initiatives at the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Treasury, State, Energy, Homeland Security, and Defense.
The Need
According to Thomas Feddo, who previously served as the Assistant Secretary for Investment Security at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he led The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, “The White House's Critical and Emerging Technologies list is a coordinated interagency effort to identify and map advanced technologies that have the potential to impact U.S. national security, whether it be with regard to protecting America and its allies, or promoting continued U.S. innovation leadership.”
Despite the importance of the list, most Israeli innovators are unaware of its existence. “Many Israeli companies with game-changing technologies in these sectors remain unaware of the CET list or its strategic importance,” adds Feddo, now founder of The Rubicon Advisors. “The CET Sandbox aims to create opportunities for meaningful business-to-business collaboration among companies based in the two closely allied nations, and to do so in a way that aligns with U.S. national security priorities and promotes their shared strategic interests.”
Experts believe the technologies detailed in the U.S. CET list are precisely aligned with Israel’s capabilities. “Israel has more of these CETs than all of the U.S.’s Five Eyes allies, combined,” says Israeli Air Force Brigadier General Shmaya Avieli (res.), who previously ran the export agency for the Israeli Ministry of Defense, known as the International Defense Cooperation Directorate.
“That innovation in Critical and Emerging Technologies has only increased since Oct. 7,” agrees Alon Lederman, High-Tech partner at Tel Aviv-based Herzog, Israel’s leading law firm in the field of CET. “We are seeing unprecedented activity with regards to company formation and venture creation, much of it tied to capabilities developed, and lessons learned, during the latest war.”
“Israel’s Defense R&D Directorate has publicly stated that technologies from more than 100 startups have been deployed in the latest conflict,” says EY Israel’s High-Tech Partner Dror Bychkov-Shohany, “demonstrating the country’s strong ecosystem of companies with advanced-stage Technology Readiness Levels.” He highlights Israel’s deep pool of knowledge, high-caliber entrepreneurs, and real-world testing environments, showcasing the country's opportunity regarding Critical and Emerging Technologies. “What is now needed is a mature infrastructure for collaboration that aligns with U.S. needs and priorities.”
David Rader, Senior Advisor at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, agrees it is critical that Israeli innovators understand these U.S. needs and priorities, especially as the U.S. seeks to counter the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the Middle East. “Prior to the Oct. 7 invasion by Hamas,” says Rader, “Israel managed to stay on the sidelines of the strategic competition between the United States and China.” That dynamic has now changed, adds Rader, compelling Israel to scrutinize foreign investment into its many Critical and Emerging Technologies. “The CET Sandbox can play a role in strengthening business collaboration between the U.S. and Israel around Critical and Emerging Technologies, and can create economic incentives for Israel to recalibrate its business relationship with Beijing.”
Participants
The CET Sandbox has widespread participation and support across U.S. defense contractors, corporations, venture capital firms, national security experts, global law and advisory firms, and innovation units throughout the U.S. government.
“We are already publishing innovation challenges to identify new warfighting capabilities in the Navy and Marine Corps,” says Graham Plaster, the Director of Nautilus, which is an innovation partnership driven by the Naval Surface Warfare Center. “The CET Sandbox will be an important mechanism for tracking Critical and Emerging Technologies that have already been deployed in battle.”
“The Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit has already received responses to solicitations from Israeli technology companies,” adds Rader of the DOD. “We hope that The CET Sandbox helps to expand the number of qualified responses that we receive.”
In addition to government innovators, defense-tech and dual-use investors will use The CET Sandbox as another tool in their toolkit when sourcing dealflow. “We are actively seeking Critical and Emerging Technologies from Israel,” says Tom Hennessey, Managing Partner of venture capital firm Coalition Ventures. “We expect The CET Sandbox to be fertile ground for U.S. investors seeking the latest capabilities from ‘Startup Nation’.”
“Innovation hubs between the U.S. and Israel are quite common in other industries such as mobility,” adds Ballistic Ventures General Partner Roger Thornton. “It’s surprising that a U.S.-Israeli innovation hub around Critical and Emerging Technologies doesn’t already exist, and we look forward to participating in The CET Sandbox.”
Defense and technology associations and nonprofits will also participate in The CET Sandbox. “The Defense Investor Network works with U.S. investors to track world-class, dual-use technologies of interest to the Pentagon and U.S. Intelligence Community,” said DIN cofounder Heather J. Richman, “and we look forward to monitoring mission-critical Israeli innovations from The CET Sandbox."
Catalogs, TRLs and Safe Cap Tables
Working with a network of defense, homeland security and intelligence partners on-the-ground in Israel, The CET Sandbox has developed the largest catalog of Critical and Emerging Technologies in Startup Nation.
Those Israeli CET companies have been mapped directly to the White House CET list, enabling U.S. enterprises to quickly identify solutions that solve particular challenges. As part of the cataloging process, The CET Sandbox has also mapped all Israeli companies to U.S. Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) and, where appropriate, U.S. Manufacturing Readiness Levels (MRLs).
“Our goal is to help the U.S. market quickly assess capabilities that match their specific needs and criteria,” says Israel Ganot, Executive Director of The CET Sandbox, who previously founded and launched the largest startup accelerator in Israel. “That requires aligning Israeli capabilities with U.S. TRLs, and ensuring those capabilities meet certain requirements and can be utilized in the U.S. market.
To that end, The CET Sandbox is also analyzing the cap tables of Israeli CET companies for the presence of “adversarial capital,” or investors that the U.S. government might consider a risk to national security.
Experts say The CET Sandbox is well-timed, as defensetech investment has reached an all-time high, as has interest in cross-border collaboration. “The incoming administration has made clear its commitment to the U.S.-Israel relationship,” said Stephen Heifetz, partner at Wilson Sonsini, “and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2025 includes specific provisions for ‘defense collaboration on emerging technologies’ between the U.S. and Israel.” Heifetz believes the time is right for a new approach to business-to-business collaboration between the two countries. “We are witnessing a transformation in the way the U.S. approaches national security capabilities,” he says, “and private-sector programs like The CET Sandbox can play an important role in accelerating the adoption of leading technology throughout the U.S. national security innovation base.”
That approach has achieved a new sense of urgency. “In addition to NDAA provisions for U.S.-Israel collaboration,” says Scott Cohen of The CET Sandbox, “President Trump has doubled-down on ‘renewing American leadership in Critical and Emerging Technologies,’ and ensuring allied democracies retain a durable techno-security advantage.” According to Cohen, private-sector programs like The CET Sandbox “can play an important role in accelerating the adoption of leading technology throughout the U.S. national security innovation base.”
About The CET Sandbox
The CET Sandbox is a U.S.-Israel “innovation hub” on Critical and Emerging Technologies. Based in Washington, D.C., and Tel Aviv, Israel. The CET Sandbox features exhibitions, technology showcases, collaborations, networking, research, and opportunities for engagement between the U.S. and Israeli companies with Critical and Emerging Technologies. For more information contact Scott Cohen, scott@cetsandbox.com.
