Over
\nthe weekend I read Startup Nation, the new book about why Israel has
\nemerged as an unlikely global leader in high-tech. Even if its authors
\nDan Senor and Saul Singer were not my friends and, in the case of Saul,
\nmy editor at the post I would still say that it’s the best
\nadvertisement for Israel to come out in recent memory. Foregoing the
\nusual discussion of Israel as an embattled nation whom everyone hates
\nand seeks to destroy, it focuses instead on the ingenuity and
\ninvincibility of the Israeli people and their vast technological
\ncontribution to the global economy. Where the Israeli army is discussed
\nits focus is not on soldiers chasing down terrorists but on how the
\nIsraeli military serves as a future commercial networking tool for
\nsoldiers who served in the same unit. You can see why the book both
\ninforms and inspires.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Am I the only one is just plain tired of
\nonly hearing bad news about Jews and Israel? Remember the old joke of
\nthe Jewish guy who loves reading anti-Semitic magazines. When asked why
\nhe says, “When I read Jewish newspapers all I come across is that we’re
\nhated and attacked. When I read the anti-Semitic alternatives they tell
\nme we run the world and have all the money.”<\/p>\n
Israel is not a victim. Less so is it a tragic nation. Rather, as
\nStartup Nation makes clear Israel today is one of the most highly
\neducated and technologically-advanced nations on earth with one of its
\nfastest growing economies. And it’s time that Jewish newspapers and
\nperiodicals stopped the sad, tired, worn story that Israel is about to
\ndraw its last breath.<\/p>\n
True, Israel has implacable, terrorist enemies that surround it, and
\nyes, Iran is building a bomb which is an existential threat to the
\nJewish state. That’s all mighty serious stuff. These threats should and
\nmust be discussed, confronted, and ultimately neutralized, by force if
\nnecessary. But is that all there is to the modern Jewish story? Is
\nthere not also a story of tremendous success? Just imagine what a
\ndowner it is for the rest of the world to hear that the Jews only see
\nthemselves as perennial victims who are about to be murdered. And
\npropagating only that bad news means that people learn to tune Israel
\nout. Whenever they see the country coming up on the news – which is all
\nthe time – they naturally assume it’s some tragic, depressing story. So
\nthey either turn the channel or worse, they watch it and conclude that
\nIsrael is a place of guns, bombs, and bullets. If only they could hear
\nabout Israeli universities ranking in the top ten worldwide, of the
\ngrowing number of Nobel Prize winners, of Andy Grove, Warren Buffet,
\nand Bill Gates rushing to invest in Israel, and how a crazy percentage
\nof all the world’s computer chips are manufactured in the Jewish state.<\/p>\n
The time has come for world Jewry to no longer look at the Jewish
\nstate only as the refuge for a persecuted people and instead focus on
\nIsrael as the place where the limitless potential of the Jewish people
\nis finally being manifest. All we needed was for people to get out of
\nour way, to rid ourselves of countries that shoved us into ghettoes or
\ngave quotas as to how many Jews could attend University, and just look
\nat how much we now thrive. And we prosper not as a self-absorbed nation
\nbut as a people who make vast contributions to the welfare of all
\nmankind.<\/p>\n
It is time for Israel to begin seriously considering forgoing
\nAmerican economic aid. I understand the military aid. Israel has an
\ninsane number of crazies who wish to attack and destroy it. But the
\neconomic aid creates an unnecessary dependency, undermines the
\nperception of Israel as a prosperous country, and gives the United
\nStates undo influence over Israeli policy. And surely we all believe
\nthat decisions governing Israel’s right to defend itself should be
\ntaken by the Israeli Prime Minister rather than the American President.<\/p>\n
There is more.<\/p>\n
Many a Jew has wondered aloud why the Arabs got all the oil and
\nIsrael got none. What could G-d have been thinking in making despots
\nand dictators like the Saudis and Kaddafi so insanely rich while Israel
\nhas to struggle for every shekel it earns. Only now to do we see the
\ntruth. Oil is the greatest curse ever to befall the Arabs. By digging a
\nhole and having money flow from the ground, the Arab states had little
\nincentive to build world-class Universities and a thriving high-tech
\nindustry. And when the day finally comes – and it will come – when the
\nworld is wise enough to finally find an alternative energy source to
\noil, these despotic regimes will completely collapse.<\/p>\n
This isn’t rocket science. All of us, I’m sure, know at least one
\nrich friend whose kids had to work for very little and who consequently
\nbecame spoiled and indolent. Israel has had to work for every thing it
\nhas. No country in world history has ever been more unjustly reviled or
\nmore ferociously and continuously attacked. Conversely, no country
\nbetter inspires the world to ponder the infinite capacity of humans to
\nrise from the ashes – and in the case of the holocaust, quite literally
\n– and build a shining state on a hill.<\/p>\n
Israel still has a lot of problems and a lot of enemies who seek to
\ndestroy it. It must be hyper vigilant and forever strong. But it is
\ntime for the other side of the story to be highlighted as well. And I
\nhope that more books like Start Up Nation will begin to focus on
\nIsrael’s colossal achievements rather than merely its insurmountable
\nthreats.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n