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Exhibit 12.1

# Certification

I, Russell C. Ellwanger, certify
that:

1.    
              I have reviewed this Amendment No.1 on Form 20-F/A to
          the annual report on Form 20-F of Tower Semiconductor Ltd.;

2.    
              Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any
          untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
          to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
          statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
          report;

3.    
              Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and
          other financial information included in this annual report, fairly present in
          all material respects the financial condition, results of operations nd cash
          flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.    
              The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I
          are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
          procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and
          internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
          13a-15(f) and 15(d)-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

| | (a)       
designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and
procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information
relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us
by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is
being prepared;
| | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | (b)       
designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control
over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of
financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles;
| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | (c)       
evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and procedures
and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such
evaluation; and
| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | (d)       
disclosed in this report any change in the registrants internal control over
financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by the annual report that has
materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrants
internal control over financial reporting; and
| | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.    
              The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I
          have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
          financial reporting, to the registrants auditors and the audit committee
          of registrants board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
          functions):

| | (a)       
all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of
internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
the registrants ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
information; and
| | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | (b)       
any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a
significant role in the registrants internal control over financial reporting.
| | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

November 24, 2009

| |  | /s/ Russell C. Ellwanger
Russell C. EllwangerChief Executive OfficerTower Semiconductor Ltd.
| |  | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



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