WEIZAC at the Weizmann Institute. File photo by Yuval Madar, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
1954Technology
The Weizmann Institute builds Israel's first computer for about $50,000.
WEIZAC performs its first calculation in October 1955, and the Weizmann Institute calls it one of the earliest computers in the world.
The story in numbers.
$50,000
cost, one fifth of the Institute's budget
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4,096
40-bit words of memory, once fitted
1 hour
of machine time nightly for the IDF
Here is how it happened.
1954
The Weizmann Institute sets out to build a computer.
Chaim Pekeris had made a computer a condition of joining, and Gerald Estrin comes to direct the project. The design follows the machine at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study.
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Inside WEIZAC, the Weizmann Institute's first computer. File photo by Yuval Madar, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
1954 to 1955
A small team collects parts across Tel Aviv and builds the rest by hand.
The core team is three full-time engineers and a technician, working in a basement. A shop that makes bicycle components does the precision work.
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October 1955
WEIZAC is switched on and calculates the root of a complex number.
The first try, with guests watching, ends in a small fire. After repairs it runs successfully.
1955 to 1963
Scientists line up for machine time.
Researchers use it for chemistry, geology, seismology, particle physics and mathematics. The IDF gets one hour every night, from 2 to 3 AM.
29 December 1963
A new computer replaces WEIZAC.
WEIZAC runs until 29 December 1963, when GOLEM takes its place. In 2006 the IEEE names it a milestone in the history of electrical engineering and computing.
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More pictures from this story.
WEIZAC on display at the Weizmann Institute. File photo by Deror_avi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
WEIZAC on display at the Weizmann Institute
Here is why it matters.
WEIZAC ran almost around the clock for researchers in fields from chemistry to seismology. It also trained soldiers who later founded MAMRAM, the IDF's computing unit.
Three more milestones to read next.
An 8 MB Disk on Key drive sold under IBM's name. File photo by Gbuchana, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
2000
The Israeli company M-Systems starts selling DiskOnKey.
Read the story
1988
Israel launches its first satellite, Ofek-1.
Read the story
Check Point's offices in Tel Aviv. File photo by Petr Cícha, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
1993
The Israeli company Check Point is founded, and ships FireWall-1 in 1994.
Read the story
Where each fact was read.
Sources read on 1 November 2026.