Staying Global Under Fire

How Israeli SMBs Can Preserve Contracts, Trust, and Presence and Still Grow

Israeli small-to-mid-sized companies (SMBs) that sell globally are operating under a long war and a louder isolation narrative that now shows up as an unstated objection in procurement rooms from Frankfurt to Chicago. The firms that keep their place on vendor lists are not the loudest but the most disciplined: they prewire contracts for stress, make continuity measurable, diversify where the customer meets the company, and talk in shipped milestones rather than slogans. The data are mixed. Defense exports set a new record of $14.7B+ in 2024; high-tech exports reached $78B in 2024 and rose to ~57% of all exports in H1-2025; and Google signed a $32B definitive agreement to acquire Wiz. At the same time, exporters report cancellations in parts of the EU and U.S., and carriers temporarily paused then resumed vessel calls at Haifa—reminding executives to multihome freight and staging. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

How Crises Have Actually Affected Israeli Companies

History matters. During the Second Intifada, Gaza escalations, and the pandemic, firms that made continuity visible—mirrored teams across sites, documented uptime and delivery, and maintained measured, proactive communication—retained customers and sometimes gained share. Companies that went quiet paid later in longer, costlier pipeline rebuilds. Resilience isn’t mystique; it’s operational discipline earned in advance.

The Legal and Regulatory Front: What Holds When Things Break

When stress hits, the question is not “Do we have force majeure?” but whether your language forces dialogue before termination, defines objective impairment, and separates political discomfort from genuine impossibility. Under U.S. and EU practice, civil disturbance justifies adjustments only when delivery is truly prevented, not when a buyer is uneasy. Draft for cure periods, step-in rights, and evidence-based suspension.

In tenders, winning is the start of a different campaign: stakeholder mapping and coalition management, sometimes via SPVs or consortia with a local prime to keep implementation politically viable. For dual-use tech (AI/cyber), build export-control compliance on Day One; third-party standards (ISO/IEC 27001, ISO 22301) travel well inside risk committees.

Model “hardship” fragment (to adapt with counsel): “If a Party’s performance is hindered by events beyond its reasonable control, the Parties shall promptly confer in good faith to implement mitigation steps. Suspension or termination shall not apply unless the affected Party demonstrates objective inability to perform (not mere commercial inconvenience or reputational concerns). Prior to termination, the Parties shall observe a 30-day cure period, implement agreed work-arounds, and consider step-in or subcontracting under the original SLAs. Civil unrest or war in a Party’s jurisdiction, without demonstrated impossibility, shall not in itself constitute Force Majeure.”

Quiet boycotts and requests to “de-emphasize” Israeli branding appear in some procurements. Treat this as a contracting reality: where feasible, contract and bill through U.S./EU subsidiaries while keeping R&D in Israel; let artifacts—SLA attainment, audit passes, certifications—carry the credibility in the room.

Managing Trust With Customers and Partners

Trust in a crisis is signaled, not declared. Communicate with radical practicality: weekly or biweekly notes focused on staffed teams, milestones hit, and contingency paths. Go first: equip your internal champion with forwardable artifacts—release notes, updated Gantt charts, audit extracts. Brand for stability through hires, GA dates, and certifications. Inside-out alignment matters just as much: a clear operating rhythm, flexible staffing, and documented handovers turn directly into external credibility.

Operating rhythm (can be adapted to your org): maintain a concise customer email every 7–14 days; keep a real-time client dashboard for SLA/KPI visibility; run a quarterly webinar as your public QBR; hold a monthly internal continuity check.

The Data Picture and What It Implies (2024–2025)

War costs are heavy and fiscal space is tighter, while exporters report frictions—particularly in parts of Europe and, to a lesser extent, the U.S. Avoid hard percentages unless you cite an official survey; describe trends as “material” and “market-noted” where data are mixed or off-record. Logistics illustrate the volatility: Maersk paused and then reopened calls to Haifa by late June 2025, with other carriers following suit, underlining the need to multihome routes and staging. Counter-signals remain strong: defense exports >$14.7B (2024); high-tech exports $78B (2024), ~57% of total in H1-2025; Google–Wiz $32B; and NVIDIA’s planned multibillion-dollar Israel campus announced mid-2025. The managerial implication: plan conservatively for prolonged friction while investing aggressively in anti-cyclical demand (cyber, AI, security) and in proof-of-continuity. (Maersk)

Practical Tools for Preserving Contracts and Awards

Start with paper that holds. Distinguish unrest from impossibility and tie any suspension to objective evidence. Precommit to cooling-off windows and stepped remedies before termination. Back the paper with continuity you can prove: publish a two-page ISO-22301-aligned brief (mirrored teams, vendor redundancies, RTO/RPO targets, remote-work drills). Diversify practical anchors—revenue mix, support locations, light assembly/staging, compliance and billing hubs. Keep the relationship chorus going with monthly delivery notes and honest risk-mitigation registers; give your champion a five-slide internal deck (uptime, milestones, risks & mitigations, capacity map, next-quarter plan).

International precedents ground this in operating reality. After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, Toyota remapped multi-tier suppliers and added contingency triggers that reduced stoppage risk later that same year in the Thai floods. Indian IT providers institutionalized ISO-anchored continuity and won U.S. share from cheaper but less proven rivals. Ukrainian development shops (post-2022) set up entities in Poland/Germany to meet EU procurement norms while continuing to deliver from home—an operating change that retained revenue, not a PR move.

Managing Internal Crisis and Retaining Talent

Continuity collapses without a functioning team. Israeli employers that kept flexibility front-and-center—hybrid policies tolerant of reserve-duty shocks, zero tolerance for micromanagement, and mental-health support—saw stronger morale and retention. Informal “buddy” systems for reservists and their families reinforced loyalty. Companies that kept hiring pipelines and R&D warm (e.g., Wix, Fiverr) signaled stability and stemmed flight. The internal message should be explicit: we are building to outlast a long crisis, not pausing and hoping.

Financial and Marketing Resilience

Cash flow is the oxygen line. Use international factoring and milestone-based prepayments with long-standing clients; re-paper payment terms to allow flexible schedules during disruptions. In marketing, avoid politics and focus on outcomes: certifications attained, projects accepted, versions shipped, customers onboarded. Several Israeli cyber SMBs that redeployed GTM to ASEAN in 2019–2020 doubled revenue within two years; geographic diversification remains one of the cleanest de-risking moves.

Government Support and International Programs

Leverage public tools that de-risk entry and R&D. The “Smart Money” program (Foreign Trade Administration) can cover up to 50% of eligible international marketing costs when penetrating new markets. Bi-national R&D funds—BIRD (U.S.), I4F (India), SIIRD (Singapore)—create joint projects that come with capital and a partner vested in success. Crisis-specific tracks have provided fast-bridge support aimed at R&D and retention rather than sales. These instruments don’t replace execution, but they lower the cost of diversification and keep technical momentum alive.

Leadership Case Studies From the Field

Toyota (2011). The quake shattered just-in-time illusions. Toyota mapped supplier tiers, demanded higher buffers for critical parts, and diversified single-points-of-failure. When Thai floods struck later in 2011, Toyota resumed faster than rivals stuck in the old playbook.

Fiverr (2020). The pandemic accelerated the remote-first shift; Fiverr leaned into its marketplace mechanics and scaled, becoming infrastructure for SMBs during uncertainty.

Ukrainian dev shops (2022–). Dual identity—EU contracting entities with Ukrainian R&D—reassured clients and retained revenue amid war.

Armis and Wiz (2024–2025). Armis raised $200M at ~$4.2–4.3B in Oct-2024; Google signed a $32B definitive agreement to acquire Wiz in Mar-2025. These signaled sustained global appetite for Israeli deep tech even under geopolitical stress. (Armis)

Dig Robotics and Gaius AI (2023–2024). Founding in crisis, one stayed and built with government support; the other adopted dual-entity structure from day one.

Philippine BPOs. Typhoon-exposed operators turned DR/BCP into a selling point by running redundant centers and protected-staff shuttles; continuity became the differentiator.

Check Point (early 2000s). “Battle-tested” wasn’t a slogan but a proof point: products hardened under stress won trust with banks and governments.

What To Do This Month

Over the next 30 days, re-evaluate your five highest-value contracts and insert objective impairment tests and a mandatory renegotiation window before termination; publish a two-page continuity brief that sales can forward immediately; shift one visible function—support region, staging, or payroll—to a U.S./EU hub; and maintain a public operating rhythm with weekly milestone posts, one customer webinar this quarter, and a small, moderated customer community. These moves create proof—not promises—that you deliver through disruption.

About the writer-

Benny Fluman is the founder and CEO of MATCH B2B, a platform dedicated to building marketing and sales systems for Israeli companies expanding globally. MATCH B2B supports CEOs and business teams in designing and executing international go-to-market strategies, leveraging data tools, organic LinkedIn campaigns, and digital assets that generate high-quality leads. The company’s model is tailored for small and mid-sized businesses and is focused on delivering qualified sales opportunities (SQLs) that translate directly into measurable growth in target global markets.