Tower Semiconductor Ltd., a pure-play independent specialty foundry based in Migdal Haemek, Israel, today announced the appointment of Amnon Ben-Yishai as senior vice president of operations, responsible for Tower's fabs, operations and manufacturing services. Ben-Yishai brings more than 25 years of experience in manufacturing and operations in semiconductor and technology companies. He has held key positions in manufacturing, engineering, yield, quality and reliability and was responsible for achievements in establishing new operations, ramp-up, cycle time, yield, supply chains, cost effectiveness and manufacturing efficiencies. Most recently, Ben-Yishai was a vice president at Applied Materials Corp., where he served more than eight years, including PDC Operations in Rehovot. Prior to joining Applied, he served as vice president of operations at Indigo. He began his career at Intel Corp. and worked there for 14 years. While at Intel, he was part of the core team that established Fab 8 in Jerusalem, served as manufacturing manager and manager of the yield, quality and reliability activities.