Some of the first thoughts that come to Americans’ minds when thinking about Israel are the Palestinian conflict, the threat of terrorism, and the treat of war with neighboring countries. While the reality of life in Israel, these issues do not define Israel or her people. What Israel is perhaps most proud of is her leadership in innovation and being arguably the most innovative people on the planet, in spite of such a stressful life.
Israel as a country has achieved this promise through hard work and creativity, in spite of enormous existential challenges. The proof is in the kugel.
Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world’s population can proudly claim the following and much, much more:
Environment
• Israel is the only country that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, even more remarkable—in an area that’s mainly desert.
• Over 90% of Israeli homes use solar energy for hot water, the highest percentage in the world.
• Israel is the first country to host a national electric car network.
• Israel operates the world’s largest desalinization plant.
• Israeli companies are producing the largest solar energy production facility in the world.
Science and Technology
• More Israeli patents are registered in the United States than from Russia, India and China combined (combined population 2.5 billion vs Israel’s 8 million). It leads the world in patents for medical equipment.
• Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, 63% more than the U.S. It also has the most physicians and engineers per capita.
• Israel’s scientific research institutions are ranked third in the world.
• Israel is ranked second in space sciences.
• Israel produces the third most scientific papers per capita.
• Israeli companies invented the drip irrigation system, discovered the world’s most used drug for multiple sclerosis, designed the Pentium NMX Chip technology and the Pentium 4 and Centrium microprocessors, created Instant Messenger (ICQ), and Israeli cows produce more milk per cow than any other in the world.
Business
• Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship among women in the world.
• Israel has attracted the most venture capital investment per capita in the world, 30 times more than Europe.
• Israel has more NASDAQ-listed companies than any country besides the U.S. —more than all of Europe, India, China and Japan combined.
• In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute numbers, Israel has more startups than any country other than the U.S.
• Microsoft, Berkshire-Hathaway, Motorola, Intel, HP, Siemens, GE, IBM, Philips, Lucent, AOL, Cisco, Applied Materials, IBM, J&J and more – have chosen to make significant investments in Israel.
(The above facts were assembled by Taccata Online using publications from United With Israel and Israel & Christians Today)
The listing above is just a fraction of all the achievements and innovations that come out of Israel. For a more detailed examination of Israeli innovation, the CRC Israel Advocacy Committee highly recommends the book, Start Up Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer.
This is the first in a series of articles presented by the CRC Israel Advocacy Committee. In the future, current innovations and scientific achievements will be presented in more detail.
Contact Robin Mancoll, director of the Community Relations Council or the Israel advocacy committee chairs, Nataly Fleishman and Steve Leon, with any questions about Israel, related concerns, or innovations that deserve future articles. In addition, check out the Everything Israel section on the CRC Website at www.jewishva.org/crc.
by Nataly Fleishman