INDEX / DIRECTORY / VAST DATA

VAST Data

Software & Cloud 62 CITED SOURCES UPDATED 2026-09-29 METHOD V6.5
BDS-1000 Score 799 /1000 B Tier B - Severe
Military ↗ 0.00 Digital ↗ 5.50 Economic ↗ 9.00 Political ↗ 3.25
OWNERSHIP TREE 0 brands and group businesses View all

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Key Findings

  • Economic: VAST maintains an active Israeli entity, longstanding Tel Aviv and Haifa development operations, and reportedly employed roughly one-third of its approximately 1,100-person workforce in Israel in 2026.1, 2
  • Digital: VAST entered a long-term partnership with Shonfeld Data Services to provide core data infrastructure for a large Israeli sovereign-AI cloud, described as using dozens of petabytes of VAST infrastructure and thousands of NVIDIA GPUs.3, 4
  • Political: VAST and the Tmura Foundation established a NIS 3 million scholarship fund for Israeli AI and computer-science students in 2026; the documented recipients were universities and students, not military or settlement bodies.5
  • Not found: No public evidence identified of a direct VAST contract with the IDF, Israeli Ministry of Defense, Israeli intelligence agencies, Project Nimbus, settlement operations, offensive-cyber provision, biometric surveillance, or purpose-built autonomous targeting.

Target Profile

FieldDetail
Company NameVAST Data
JurisdictionIsrael: VAST DATA LTD, company no. 515350155, is recorded as an active Israeli private company incorporated on 2 December 2015.1
HeadquartersIndependent reporting describes VAST as U.S.-headquartered; VAST describes itself as remote-first and issues current major announcements from New York.2, 6
SectorEnterprise AI and data infrastructure: storage, database, data processing and distributed data-management services.7
OwnershipPrivate. Public financing announcements identify institutional investors, but no complete current capitalization or voting-control schedule was identified.6, 8
Key Executives / GovernanceRenen Hallak, founder and CEO; Shachar Fienblit, co-founder reported to lead development and operations in Israel; Jeff Denworth, co-founder.2, 9
Israeli-Nexus SummaryIsraeli-founded company with an active Israeli entity, substantial Tel Aviv/Haifa R&D footprint, and a long-term Israeli sovereign-AI infrastructure partnership with SDS.1, 2, 3

Key Facts:

Executive Summary

VAST Data is a private AI and data-infrastructure company whose platform combines storage, database, data-processing and distributed-namespace functions. The public record documents a substantial Israeli corporate and engineering nexus: VAST DATA LTD has been active in Israel since December 2015, Tel Aviv was historically the company’s engineering centre, a Haifa development centre was added in 2021, and reporting in 2026 placed roughly one-third of VAST’s approximately 1,100 employees in Israel.1, 2, 11, 12 The record does not establish Israel as VAST’s current global headquarters or principal place of management; the company’s operations are also substantially U.S.- and globally oriented.2, 6

The strongest current Israel-specific commercial and digital vector is VAST’s September 2025 partnership with Shonfeld Data Services (SDS). VAST describes the arrangement as a long-term strategic partnership in which its AI Operating System serves as foundational data infrastructure for an Israeli sovereign-AI cloud. The announced deployment combines dozens of petabytes of VAST-powered infrastructure with thousands of NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs; contemporaneous reporting described an initial configuration of roughly 2,000 GPUs and an approximately NIS 1 billion server-farm investment at Bet Yehoshua.3, 4 That investment figure is for the project, not a disclosed VAST contract value.

A narrower defence-related fact is also documented: an IAI–ELTA Systems recruitment-page mirror lists Dell EMC, NetApp and VAST among central storage technologies managed by an Ashdod IT organization. IAI is a state-owned defence company and ELTA is its sensors-and-systems group. This supports the limited conclusion that VAST storage technology is identified in an Israeli defence-prime enterprise IT environment; it does not establish a direct VAST contract, a military programme, a weapons-system component, an intelligence workload, or an IDF end user.13, 14, 15

The audits found no public evidence of a direct contract with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, IDF, Mossad, Israel Security Agency, Israel Prison Service or Border Police; nor of Project Nimbus participation, settlement-specific operations, offensive cyber, biometric surveillance, purpose-built targeting, weapons manufacture, or military/settlement donations. VAST has separately documented U.S. defence-market activity, including VAST Data Federal and U.S. Department of Defense orders, but the retrieved evidence does not permit that activity to be attributed to Israeli military end use.10, 16

Under the fixed, human-vetted V6.5 assessment, VAST receives a BRS of 799, placing it in Tier B (Severe Complicity). The result is driven principally by the structural Israeli R&D/economic nexus and the scale and continuity of the SDS sovereign-AI infrastructure relationship, while the military score remains zero because the evidence did not verify the required direct Israeli military nexus.

Timeline of Relevant Events

DateEvent
2 December 2015VAST DATA LTD was incorporated in Israel and remains recorded as an active private company.1
2021VAST opened a Haifa development centre in addition to its Tel Aviv development presence.12
27 April 2021VAST launched VAST Data Federal for U.S. government and defence organizations.10
3 August 2021VAST Federal announced U.S. Department of Defense orders exceeding $10 million.16
7 April 2022VAST stated that its engineering organization had remained concentrated in Tel Aviv while U.S. engineering expanded.11
30 September 2025VAST and SDS announced a long-term partnership to build an Israeli sovereign-AI cloud using VAST infrastructure.3
2026Reporting placed roughly one-third of VAST’s approximately 1,100 employees in Israel and identified Fienblit as leading development and operations there.2
July 2026VAST and Tmura established a NIS 3 million scholarship fund for Israeli AI and computer-science students.5

Corporate Overview

VAST markets a general-purpose AI/data infrastructure platform. Its AI Operating System combines DataStore, DataBase, DataEngine and DataSpace functions for enterprise data and AI workloads.7 Its ordinary product materials do not characterize the core platform as a weapon, munition, fire-control product or targeting system.7

The reviewed record identifies VAST DATA LTD as an active Israeli private entity and identifies VAST DATA UK LIMITED and VAST Data Federal as separately documented group-related entities. The public materials reviewed do not supply a complete legal-entity chart or establish an ultimate-parent hierarchy among all entities, so no unsupported corporate-control conclusion is made.1, 10, 17

VAST’s Israeli presence is structurally significant to its product-development footprint. The record supports Tel Aviv engineering, a Haifa development centre, Israeli operations, and development/operations leadership in Israel.2, 11, 12 It also supports a major Israel-based commercial deployment through SDS. No public evidence identified that VAST’s SDS role is Project Nimbus participation, that the facility is located in occupied territory, or that the project has a named Israeli military or security customer.3, 4

Domain Summaries

Military: Military

Mechanism of Involvement

VAST has a documented U.S. defence-market business through VAST Data Federal. In 2021, it announced U.S. Department of Defense orders exceeding $10 million; subsequent material records continued U.S. federal-market activity.10, 16 Mercury Systems also markets a Rugged Data Storage system powered by VAST software for aerospace and defence environments, including sensor processing, SIGINT and electronic warfare applications. Mercury states that the product was developed with VAST Data Federal and describes U.S. Army Future Vertical Lift sensor-development work involving data collection aboard helicopters.18, 19

For Israel, the bounded evidence is that an IAI–ELTA Systems storage-and-backup vacancy names VAST among technologies used in central storage. IAI identifies itself as a defence and aerospace prime/subcontractor, while ELTA produces sensors, radar, intelligence, electronic-warfare and communications systems.13, 14, 15 This establishes enterprise-storage presence in a defence-prime IT environment, not supply of a weapons component or involvement in a named defence programme.

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

VAST’s core platform is civilian, general-purpose data infrastructure. Mercury’s rugged product is an integration marketed by Mercury for U.S.-centred defence contexts; the retrieved materials do not show that VAST itself controls weapons, makes targeting decisions, provides fire control, or produces kinetic effects.7, 18, 19

No public evidence identified of a direct VAST/VAST Federal contract, tender award, framework agreement or memorandum with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, IDF, Israel Prison Service or Border Police. No public evidence identified that the IAI/ELTA storage deployment is direct VAST supply, a tactical variant, a weapon-system component, or an IDF deployment. No public evidence identified of Israeli export authorization, Israeli military end-user certification, weapons manufacture, settlement construction activity, or supply to Rafael, Elbit Systems, or IMI/Elbit Land.

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Digital: Digital

Mechanism of Involvement

The most substantial verified digital relationship is the September 2025 VAST–SDS partnership. VAST says its AI Operating System will provide the foundation for one of Israel’s largest sovereign-AI cloud environments. The release describes dozens of petabytes of VAST-powered infrastructure, thousands of NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and planned further integration as the platform expands.3 Independent reporting corroborates the national-scale project, including a reported initial build of roughly 2,000 Blackwell B200 GPUs and an approximately NIS 1 billion facility investment.4

The record also establishes VAST’s Israeli R&D and business footprint. Its engineering team was historically concentrated in Tel Aviv, a Haifa development centre opened in 2021, and reporting in 2026 placed approximately one-third of the company’s workforce in Israel.2, 11, 12

The IAI/ELTA vacancy provides a separate, narrower digital nexus: VAST is listed among central storage systems within ELTA’s enterprise IT environment.13, 14, 15

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The SDS project is general-purpose AI and data infrastructure. VAST’s announcement includes government among potential sectors but does not name an Israeli ministry, military unit, intelligence service, police body, prison service or security contract.3 The evidence supports a long-term and structurally integrated deployment, but does not quantify contractual lock-in, switching penalties, or VAST’s fee.

No public evidence identified that VAST is a Project Nimbus contractor, subcontractor or supplier. SDS’s separate hosting relationships with other cloud providers cannot be used to attribute Nimbus work to VAST.3, 20 No public evidence identified of offensive cyber, spyware, biometric surveillance, predictive policing, Palestinian-data training, autonomous target generation, kill-chain automation, or a settlement-based VAST facility.

VAST’s support documentation describes optional telemetry and diagnostic-bundle transmission to VAST systems, with available obfuscation settings. These documents do not establish that Israeli employees access customer payload data or that all customer data is subject to Israeli jurisdiction.21

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Economic: Economic

Mechanism of Involvement

VAST’s strongest economic nexus is its active Israeli entity and core R&D footprint. VAST DATA LTD was incorporated in Israel in 2015; a U.S. patent-assignment record identifies that Tel Aviv entity as a receiving party for a patent application. The company’s engineering organization was historically concentrated in Tel Aviv, it added a Haifa development centre, and reporting in 2026 placed roughly one-third of its approximately 1,100 employees in Israel.1, 2, 11, 12, 23

The Israeli entity’s continuing IP participation, substantial workforce, long-standing development operations and Israel-based development/operations leadership support a finding of a continuing, structurally significant Israeli economic and R&D base. The SDS project adds a current large-scale Israeli infrastructure deployment intended to support local AI workloads and national AI initiatives.2, 3, 4

VAST and the Tmura Foundation also established a NIS 3 million scholarship fund for AI and computer-science students at Tel Aviv University, the Technion and the Open University. The source describes education and technology-workforce support.5

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The record does not establish that Israel is VAST’s current principal place of management or global headquarters. VAST is described as remote-first and U.S.-centred, with global operations and multinational financing.2, 6 Public financing announcements do not disclose a complete current cap table or voting-control schedule; no reliable public evidence identified a current shareholder with at least 10% ownership or voting control, or beneficial control by Israeli capital.6, 8

No public evidence identified of Israeli tax-residency determination, Preferred Technology Enterprise status, Innovation Authority funding, Israel-specific revenue, profit, tax payments, repatriation flows, or a disclosed VAST fee for the SDS project. No public evidence identified of settlement-origin sourcing, settlement-specific operations, sovereign-debt underwriting, war-bond activity, or investment in settlement-active companies. The OHCHR settlement-business database did not identify VAST, although the database’s defined mandate means non-listing is not proof that all indirect relationships are absent.24

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Political: Political

Mechanism of Involvement

VAST publicly presents the SDS relationship as a long-term partnership supporting Israel’s AI ecosystem and sovereign-AI infrastructure. This supports a finding of public national-market positioning with policy relevance, though the evidence shows a commercial technology relationship rather than a political endorsement.3

The July 2026 scholarship initiative is a second documented Israel-facing public act. It directed funds to students and universities, and co-founder Shachar Fienblit linked the initiative to the continued strength of the Israeli economy and industry.5 The documentary record supports education/economic-development engagement, not military financing or settlement sponsorship.

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

“Sovereign AI” is part of VAST’s broader global commercial positioning: VAST also announced sovereign-AI work in South Korea and large-scale AI infrastructure in Canada. The wording therefore cannot by itself establish Israeli political endorsement or a uniquely Israel-specific geopolitical commitment.25, 26

No public evidence identified of Israeli political financing, lobbying, anti-BDS advocacy, a state-held golden share, government-appointed board seat, state veto, military or settlement donation, conflict-specific corporate statement, or a named Israeli security customer. No public evidence identified that VAST suppressed pro-Palestinian employee speech or operated a conflict-related content-moderation policy. No public evidence identified of a direct VAST settlement operation; OHCHR non-listing is informative but bounded by the database mandate.24

Named Entities and Evidence Map

BDS-1000 Score

Method: V6.5.

DomainIMPV-Domain Score
Military0.000.000.000.00
Digital5.507.007.805.50
Economic9.007.209.109.00
Political3.506.509.003.25

V_MAX is driven by Economic: the active Israeli entity, continuing core R&D footprint, workforce scale and post-2024 sovereign-AI infrastructure activity establish a substantial economic nexus. Digital reflects the SDS deployment’s documented scale, continuity and structural role, while Military remains zero because available evidence did not establish a direct Israeli military contract or purpose-built Israeli kinetic function. This is a scale-free, evidence-only, human-vetted assessment; it does not infer facts absent from the record.

Methodology Note

Footnotes

  1. https://next.obudget.org/i/org/company/515350155 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  2. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/byoqzk2ybx ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14

  3. https://www.vastdata.com/press-releases/sds-partner-build-israels-largest-sovereign-ai-cloud ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14

  4. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-Yossi-Shonfeld-builds-server-farm-with-Nvidias-Israel-partner-1001523187 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  5. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/b1brsrr7gx ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  6. https://www.vastdata.com/press-releases/vast-series-f-financing-at-30-billion-valuation ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  7. https://www.vastdata.com/platform/ai-os ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. https://www.vastdata.com/press-releases/vast-series-e-funding-triples-valuation ↩ ↩2

  9. https://www.vastdata.com/blog/vast-data-founder-and-ceo-renen-hallak-honored-as-one-of-goldman-sachs-100-most-intriguing-entrepreneurs ↩ ↩2

  10. https://www.vastdata.com/press-releases/vast-data-launches-federal-subsidiary-and-bolsters-investment-in-the-public-sector-market ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  11. https://www.vastdata.com/blog/vast-data-expands-engineering-team-in-u-s-opens-new-office-in-raleigh-nc ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  12. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3923834%2C00.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  13. https://jobify360.co.il/jobs/4364557162-in ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  14. https://www.iai.co.il/about/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  15. https://www.iai.co.il/group/elta-group/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  16. https://www.vastdata.com/press-releases/vast-federal-announces-orders-from-department-of-defense-exceeding-10-million ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  17. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12079751 ↩

  18. https://www.mrcy.com/products/data-management/storage-transfer-mission-systems/rds-rugged-data-storage-system ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  19. https://www.mrcy.com/company/blogs/rds-and-future-vertical-lift ↩ ↩2

  20. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-shonfeld-in-talks-to-sell-data-centers-stake-at-36b-co-valuation-1001450822 ↩

  21. https://kb.vastdata.com/documentation/docs/configuring-call-home-settings-2 ↩

  22. https://www.vastdata.com/press-releases/vast-nvidia-bluefield-architecture-for-ai-factory ↩

  23. https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ipas/search/api/v2/public/download/patent/71967/969 ↩ ↩2

  24. https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?l=en&s=A%2FHRC%2F60%2F19&t=pdf ↩ ↩2

  25. https://www.vastdata.com/press-releases/vast-data-and-lablup-power-koreas-sovereign-ai-initiative ↩

  26. https://www.vastdata.com/press-releases/vast-data-partners-with-hypertec-cloud ↩