When Israeli cybersecurity firm GuardiCore launched five years ago, its founders had little difficulty hiring people, thanks to their connections in the Israeli Defense Forces. But that changed when Amazon came to town and offered salaries to some employees of 25% to 50% more than GuardiCore was paying.

GuardiCore has responded by raising salaries, hiring its first head of HR and launching social media marketing campaigns to promote its culture. It’s not alone. In recent years, as Israel has become one of the hottest spots for technology talent outside of Silicon Valley, the competition for talent between startups and bigger tech firms like Apple, Google and Facebook has intensified. And now Amazon is reportedly looking to build what may be a bigger Israeli staff than most other major U.S. tech firms.