INDEX / DIRECTORY / BYD

BYD

Car Manufacturers 155 CITED SOURCES UPDATED 2026-09-01 METHOD V6.4
BDS-1000 Score 350 /1000 D Tier D - Moderate
Military ↗ 0.76 Digital ↗ 1.75 Economic ↗ 3.80 Political ↗ 3.50
OWNERSHIP TREE 13 brands and group businesses View all

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Key Findings

  • Economic: BYD’s Israeli passenger-vehicle business operates through exclusive distributor Shlomo Motors, while documented electric-bus supply includes Egged and other public-transport orders.1, 2
  • Digital: Karamba Security, an Israeli cybersecurity company, announced that BYD selected its VCode software for ECU software-bill-of-materials work; the public record does not establish fleet-wide or production-deployment scope.3
  • Political: BYD has maintained commercial activity in Israel and a distinct Palestinian Authority-market channel, but no BYD statement addressing Israel/Palestine or Gaza was identified.1, 4
  • Not found: No public evidence identified of a completed BYD–Israeli Ministry of Defense/IDF contract, delivered military vehicles, weapons supply, or a settlement dealership.5, 6

Target Profile

FieldDetail
Company NameBYD Company Limited
JurisdictionChina; founded in Shenzhen.
HeadquartersShenzhen, China.
SectorBattery, electronics, electric-vehicle and commercial-vehicle manufacturer.
OwnershipListed on the Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Berkshire Hathaway’s former BYD shareholding had been fully exited by the end of March 2025.7
Key Executives / GovernanceWang Chuanfu, chairman and CEO; audit materials also identify Vice Chairman Lv Xiang-yang and CFO Zhou Ya-lin.8
Israeli-Nexus SummaryBYD sells passenger vehicles in Israel through Shlomo Motors and has documented electric-bus supply relationships with Israeli public-transport operators; a separate branded channel serves the Palestinian Authority-administered market.1, 2, 9

Key Facts:

Executive Summary

BYD’s documented Israel/Palestine nexus is principally commercial. Its Israeli passenger-vehicle market entry is conducted through Shlomo Motors, an independent Israeli distributor appointed in 2022. The relationship built on a pre-existing electric-bus business, including orders and deployments involving Egged and public transport in Haifa and Jerusalem.1, 2, 10 Israel became a major export market for BYD; the audit record documents continued market activity, including sales leadership and importer-led sports sponsorship after October 2023.11, 12

The most material documented economic issue is the scale and continuity of this civilian-market presence. Egged, a downstream BYD bus customer, has been documented as operating substantial settlement public transport in the West Bank. However, the evidence reviewed does not establish that BYD-manufactured buses, rather than other vehicles in Egged’s mixed fleet, serve settlement routes.13 The available record also identifies a separate “BYD Auto Palestine”/eMobility channel in Ramallah/Al-Bireh, although its ownership, legal name and launch date could not be independently confirmed.9

The documented digital nexus is limited. In June 2024, Israeli firm Karamba Security announced that BYD selected its VCode product for Software Bills of Materials relating to ECUs and UN R155 compliance.3 Karamba’s founders and leadership have documented Israeli military/intelligence-technology backgrounds, but this does not establish that BYD’s engagement was commissioned by, supplied to, or used by an Israeli state, military, intelligence or security body.3, 14, 15 Publicized allegations concerning vehicle-data collection and transfer to China remain unverified because the underlying court filing was not independently located; BYD Europe’s general privacy disclosures do not by themselves verify Israel-specific transmission.16

The audits do not substantiate a direct military-supply nexus. No public evidence identified of a completed BYD–IMOD/IDF contract, delivery or acceptance of Atto 3s for IDF officers, military-grade vehicle supply, weapons or component supply, military logistics, or use of BYD buses on settlement routes.5, 6 The proposed officer-vehicle option was reportedly not exercised; the Ministry of Defense’s February 2025 leasing announcement named other suppliers and models.5 Later Chinese-vehicle removals should not be attributed to BYD where reporting concerned Chery vehicles.6

On the V6 evidence-only, human-vetted method, BYD receives a BRS of 350, placing it in Tier D (Moderate Complicity). The result reflects documented commercial scale and direct Israeli market exposure, including the settlement-transport risk attached to a downstream customer, while preserving limits on unverified, indirect, divested, wrong-entity, and non-Israel-specific claims.

Timeline of Relevant Events

DateEvent
2012A reported Dan Bus Company contract concerned up to 700 electric buses; the current operational status of that fleet was not confirmed in the reviewed sources.17
2017BYD electric buses were reported operating on Haifa routes; later sources also describe a BYD fleet in Haifa and Jerusalem.10
September 2019Egged Israel took delivery of 10 BYD electric buses for Jerusalem route 15.10
November 2021BYD announced a 100-bus Egged order, described as Israel’s largest electric-bus order at the time.2
August 2022BYD appointed Shlomo Motors as distributor for new-energy passenger vehicles in Israel.1
September 2023Wang Chuanfu visited Israel as a guest of Shlomo Motors; no conflict-related statement was identified.18
June 2024Karamba Security announced BYD’s selection of VCode for ECU SBOM creation and UN R155 compliance.3
December 2024Shlomo Motors and Maccabi Tel Aviv announced an importer-led BYD vehicle sponsorship arrangement.11
23 February 2025Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced a leasing award naming Eldan and Perry/Frey and selected Škoda, Kia and Opel models, not BYD.5
May 2026Reporting described a proposed class action against BYD and Shlomo Motors concerning data practices; the underlying filing was not independently located in the audit.16
June 2026The US Department of Defense added BYD to its Section 1260H list; BYD disputed the designation. This was a US-China action, not an Israel-specific arms finding.19

Corporate Overview

BYD is a Shenzhen-founded, Hong Kong- and Shenzhen-listed manufacturer of batteries, electronics, passenger EVs and commercial vehicles. The audit record identifies Wang Chuanfu as chairman and CEO and identifies BYD Electronic (International) Company Limited as an operationally integrated listed group company in which BYD indirectly held approximately 65.76% as at 31 December 2024.8

BYD’s Israeli passenger-car presence is distributor-based rather than a documented BYD-owned local operating footprint. Shlomo Motors is the exclusive national importer/distributor, responsible for marketing, sales, aftersales and service. Its relationship with BYD began in the electric-bus sector before the 2022 passenger-vehicle appointment.1 The audits identify Shlomo-operated BYD showrooms in Petach Tikva, Haifa, Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva, with Bnei Brak and Nazareth also identified in the network; no public evidence identified of a BYD or authorised dealer/showroom in a West Bank settlement, settlement industrial zone or the Golan Heights.1, 6

The Israeli relationship is distinct from the reported Palestinian Authority-market channel branded “BYD Auto Palestine”/eMobility, with retail presence identified in Ramallah/Al-Bireh. The audited sources did not independently establish that channel’s legal owner, precise address, corporate structure or launch date.9 No public evidence identified of BYD-owned Israeli factories, data centres, logistics hubs, R&D centres, Israeli state ownership, Israeli government board appointees, or an Israeli critical-infrastructure designation.8

Domain Summaries

Military: Military

Mechanism of Involvement

A procurement process, not a proven award, is the closest documented military-adjacent matter. Reporting described Shlomo Motors submitting BYD Atto 3 and Dolphin offers to Government Vehicle Administration Tender/Competition No. 18 in December 2023, potentially involving government and security users. That record establishes tender participation by the distributor, not a BYD or Shlomo award, executed contract, delivered quantity, price or allocation to a security end user.6

Secondary reporting also described an Atto 3 option for lieutenant-colonels in staff or rear-area roles. The evidence does not establish delivery, acceptance, registration to the IDF or actual use. The relevant option was reportedly not exercised, and the MOD’s February 2025 leasing announcement named other suppliers and models.5 Israeli restrictions on Chinese-made vehicles were driven by cybersecurity and counter-espionage concerns; they do not establish BYD military export licensing, military use, or a defence supply relationship.5, 6

Elbit Systems reportedly held some BYD and Geely vehicles in its approximately 4,400-vehicle corporate fleet as of mid-2026. This establishes a limited corporate-fleet presence, not supply of components, weapons subsystems, manufacturing services or operational vehicles. BYD-only numbers, vehicle allocation, supplier, lease value and use were not publicly identified.20

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

BYD’s strongest defence is that the record is civilian and commercially intermediated. No public evidence identified of a direct BYD–IMOD contract; a signed Shlomo Motors–IMOD Atto 3 contract; a delivered or accepted IDF Atto 3; military-grade, tactical or modified BYD vehicles; weapons, munitions, strategic-system components, military logistics or base services.5, 6

The later reported removal of approximately 600 leased vehicles concerned Chery, not BYD, and must not be treated as proof of earlier BYD military use.6 The US 1260H designation concerns alleged Chinese military-civil-fusion linkage in a US regulatory context; it is not evidence of Israeli defence trade, and BYD publicly disputed it.19

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Digital: Digital

Mechanism of Involvement

Karamba Security announced that BYD selected VCode to create SBOMs for ECUs, secure its supply chain and support UN R155 compliance.3 Karamba is Israeli-domiciled. Its published leadership information identifies co-founder Tal Ben-David as having served in an elite IDF technological unit and executive chair Ami Dotan as a former Rafael strategy executive; contemporaneous reporting identifies founders Tal Ben-David and Assaf Harel as Unit 8200 alumni.14, 15

The digital connection is therefore a documented Israeli cybersecurity-vendor relationship. It does not establish deployment across BYD’s whole fleet, any particular model or market, production status, contract value, duration, renewal, CI/CD integration, or use by Israeli security institutions.3

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

No public evidence identified of BYD relationships with the named Israeli cybersecurity firms beyond Karamba, Israeli-origin technology in BYD’s core cloud or analytics systems, Israeli data-centre operations, Project Nimbus participation, Israeli government cloud contracts, Israeli R&D facilities, acquisitions or co-development agreements.3, 8

The proposed IDF Atto 3 arrangement is not verified as a contract or deployment. Similarly, publicized allegations that BYD vehicles transferred specified Israeli vehicle data to China remain unverified because the underlying court filing was not independently located. BYD Europe’s privacy policy says personal data may be transferred outside the EU/EEA, including to China, but does not establish which Israeli data are transferred or where Israeli vehicle data are processed.16

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Economic: Economic

Mechanism of Involvement

BYD’s core documented nexus is sustained commercial activity through Shlomo Motors, its exclusive Israeli passenger-vehicle distributor. The relationship supports marketing, sales, aftersales and service and builds on more than a decade of commercial electric-bus activity.1 Reported Israeli market performance includes BYD’s EV-sales leadership, while trade reporting identified Israel as a major BYD export market.18, 12

The bus relationship is a separate commercial-vehicle channel. Documented orders include Egged’s 100-bus 2021 order, earlier Haifa supply, and reported operations in Haifa and Jerusalem.2, 10 Egged is documented as a substantial provider of settlement public transport across the West Bank. The record does not establish that BYD buses operate on those routes, so settlement-route attribution cannot be made to BYD vehicles.13

The audits also document an independent Palestinian Authority-market channel. This mitigates any suggestion that BYD’s commercial relationship is exclusively Israeli, while leaving its ownership and structure unresolved.9

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

No public evidence identified of direct BYD capital investment, factories, real estate, data centres, logistics hubs or direct employee footprint in Israel or the occupied territories; its documented Israeli market activity is distributor-based.8 No public evidence identified of an exact Israel-attributable BYD revenue figure in corporate disclosures. Retail and service margins belong to the distributor, while manufacturer wholesale payments follow an ordinary export/distributor structure; exact flows were not publicly disclosed.8

Berkshire Hathaway’s full exit from BYD by March 2025 must be treated as a discontinued relationship. Berkshire’s separate ownership of Israel’s Iscar is not a BYD holding or a basis for transitive attribution.7, 21 Likewise, Affinity Partners’ reported investment in Shlomo Group concerns BYD’s distributor parent, not an investment in BYD.22

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Political: Political

Mechanism of Involvement

The political-domain record is principally one of commercial presence and absence of political advocacy. BYD’s Israeli entry, commercial expansion and importer-led Maccabi Tel Aviv sponsorship are documented, but no public evidence identified of a BYD corporate statement addressing Israel/Palestine, Gaza, the ICJ advisory opinion or ICC warrants.1, 11, 4

Wang Chuanfu’s September 2023 Israel visit was as a guest of Shlomo Motors; the available reporting does not identify meetings with ministers or public investment announcements.18 Reporting around 2026 characterized remarks about the Iran-Israel war as market-opportunity framing related to overseas demand rather than a humanitarian or political position.4

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

No public evidence identified of BYD lobbying or leadership roles in pro-Israel, anti-BDS, settlement-support or Israel/Palestine pressure organisations; corporate donations to the IDF, military-welfare bodies, settlement organisations or conflict-related Israeli state-aligned initiatives; or donated vehicles or logistics during the Gaza war.4

No public evidence identified of a dealership specifically in a West Bank settlement. The audit could not resolve whether the Jerusalem showroom address is in pre-1967 West Jerusalem or East Jerusalem, and therefore does not attribute it to a settlement.9 BYD is confirmed absent from AFSC’s reviewed Gaza-related company list. Its absence from the OHCHR settlement-business database should be treated as unconfirmed in the Political audit because the underlying document was not fully retrievable there; other audit review found no BYD reference in the listed OHCHR materials.23, 24

Named Entities and Evidence Map

BDS-1000 Score

Method: V6.

DomainIMPV-Domain Score
Military1.504.505.500.76
Digital3.503.507.801.75
Economic3.807.008.003.80
Political3.507.009.003.50

V_MAX is driven by Economic: the evidenced scale of BYD’s Israeli distributor-led market activity and bus supply relationship, including the unresolved downstream settlement-transport exposure attached to Egged. The Political result reflects sustained commercial presence and related public-facing activity, not demonstrated political advocacy; Military remains low because the record does not verify military contracting or use. This is a scale-free, evidence-only, human-vetted method and does not convert unresolved claims into findings.

Methodology Note

Footnotes

  1. https://www.byd.com/eu/news-list/BYD-Appoints-Shlomo-Motors-as-Distributor-for-New-Energy-Passenger-Vehicles-in-Israel ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  2. https://www.electrive.com/2021/11/29/100-byd-electric-buses-bound-for-israel/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  3. https://www.karambasecurity.com/news/byd-selects-karamba-security-vcode/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  4. https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOGN/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. https://www.gov.il/en/pages/dofspokesman230225 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  6. https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/s1ea3albeg ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  7. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ywang/2025/09/22/warren-buffetts-berkshire-hathaway-sells-entire-stake-in-chinese-ev-giant-byd/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. https://www.bydglobal.com/en/company ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  9. https://byd.ps/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  10. https://www.sustainable-bus.com/news/israel-largest-electric-bus-order-byd/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  11. https://www.maccabi-tlv.co.il/en/2024/12/maccabi-and-the-importer-of-byd-vehicles-to-israel-sign-sponsorship-deal/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  12. https://www.jpost.com/consumerism/article-884115 ↩ ↩2

  13. https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/egg/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  14. https://www.karambasecurity.com/company/leadership/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  15. https://forbes.co.il/karamba-security/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  16. https://www.byd.com/eu/privacy-policy ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  17. https://www.sustainable-bus.com/news/byd-dan-bus-company-israel-electric-buses/ ↩ ↩2

  18. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-chinas-byd-chairman-wang-chuanfu-visits-israel-1001457388 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  19. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/alibaba-baidu-byd-added-to-pentagons-list-of-chinese-military-companies.html ↩ ↩2

  20. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/c6qb9psk1 ↩ ↩2

  21. https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/isc.html ↩ ↩2

  22. https://www.timesofisrael.com/jared-kushners-saudi-backed-private-equity-fund-clinches-first-investment-in-israel/ ↩ ↩2

  23. https://afsc.org/companies-profiting-from-gaza-genocide ↩

  24. https://www.ohchr.org/en/business/bhr-database ↩