Lack of research opportunities in Israel I am currently researching where I would like to do my PhD. I have always been drawn to Israel (this has nothing to do with religion or politics or anything similar but rather with warm weather and hummus) so I also included it in a list of potential destinations. However, I am very surprised that I virtually never come across

advertisements for PhD positions in Israel
Israeli institutes being involved in research projects or international programs
someone who has studied/worked at an Israeli university
...

Also, a few years ago, I contacted multiple Israeli universities about the possibility of conducting my thesis there and got very limited response.
When I compare this to countries with somewhat similar &quot;level of development&quot;, such as Canada, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, etc., it feels completely different. From all these countries I get a feeling that they expect and encourage foreign students/researchers to come and that they work to attract them (both at a national level and at a level of individual universities)
Question: Are there any reasons for Israel seemingly not being (a) involved much in international research collaborations and (b) interested in foreign students/researchers?
My field is geoinformatics and remote sensing.
Are there any reasons for Israel seemingly not being (a) involved much in international research collaborations and (b) interested in foreign students/researchers?

Your assumption (a) is completely incorrect — it’s hard for me to think of a statement that’s further than the truth.
Assumption (b) is correct in the context of foreign students, and this has a simple explanation. It’s mostly a language issue: PhD programs in Israel are offered in Hebrew, and it’s extremely rare for foreign students looking for a place to do their PhD to be willing to invest several years to learn the language at the level they’d need to know it to be successful in doing a PhD. The ones who would entertain that possibility are small enough in numbers, and highly motivated enough, that there’s no need for graduate programs to do special outreach targeted at them. Any postings for PhD programs or positions will be in Hebrew, and if you are not a Hebrew speaker you will not be able to find and read them.
There are a few exceptions to this. The Weizmann Institute of Science has English as its official language and does attract a reasonable number of foreign students. Tel Aviv University has an English speaking medical school program and, I vaguely recall, a business master’s program. There might be other isolated programs for which the language barrier wouldn’t be an issue.