A global success story

Independence Day is always an occasion to take stock and review how far Israel has come and where it is heading. Two numbers are particularly significant: The first concerns the population, and the second pertains to gross domestic product. In 1948, upon Israel's inception, the young country's population numbered some 600,000 people. Sixty-eight years later, the population has grown tenfold. The Jewish state, which upon its founding needed handouts from the Diaspora to maintain an austerity regime, now boasts a GDP that exceeds $250 billion. Few are the countries formed after World War II that have done so well.

We are used to hearing that Israeli politicians are "terrible," that there is "no governance," that local bureaucracy is "impossible," that "Israelis" are the antonym of good customer service, and that no one here wants to break a sweat -- and the list goes on. Reality, however, is actually a true source of pride.

Israelis always seem to look at the glass as being half empty. That may provide motivation to change and progress, but it could become confusing when trying to gauge how far we have come. Israel is a success story on an international scale according to almost every objective measure, and according to most of the public.

Recently, in a lecture at the Command and Staff College, I said it is time to put Israel's security challenges back in proportion. Israel currently faces one major challenge -- the potential of a nuclear Iran. That itself is a very serious issue, but when it comes to all other fronts, things have vastly improved since I was a young officer.

Back then, Israel was surrounded by armies comprising thousands of tanks, hundreds of aircraft and millions of soldiers. Today, with the exception of the Egyptian military, which is a large and modern force, there are no large military forces in the region that pose a threat to Israel. Thanks to the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty, the majority of the Egyptian military is on the other size of the Suez Canal, over 150 kilometers (93 miles) away from Israel's borders, and it currently has much bigger things to worry about.

This is why reality mandates Israel prepare to deal with a different kind of challenge, versus nonstate entities that have massive missile arsenals -- stockpiles that include advanced precision projectiles, anti-tank, anti-aircraft and anti-ship missile. Despite being sponsored by Iran, these groups, however, are lacking the kind of resources available to a state, and they are also devoid an actual military and strategic depth. Still, given their missile arsenals, they cannot be discounted.

The Middle East remains volatile, and in some sectors, tensions could flare up at the drop of a hat. The scope of threats is complicated and meeting them is a complex mission, among others because of the difficulty to tell terrorists and civilians apart. Still, the overall threat is smaller than it used to be.

The moral imperative

In some areas, which are more difficult to assess -- like culture, academia and original thinking -- Israel is a success on a global scale in terms of the number of books printed each year, the number and quality of young writers, and the number of students who study the Torah for its own sake, as well as in the number of citations of Israeli researchers in global academia, the number of Israeli Nobel laureates, the number of orchestras, and of course -- the number of startups.

Other fields -- such as civilian cybersecurity, missile defense systems and medical equipment -- see Israel rank among the global elite, and those are just the success stories we know about, as there are numerous successes that remain clandestine.

But Israel cannot bask in its success and rest on its laurels. The Jewish state faces some serious issues that must be addressed.

Israel must decide if it wants to take in more than 1.5 million Palestinians by annexing Judea and Samaria, or whether it would prefer to leave an opening for negotiations that would facilitate a Palestinian state -- even if today it seems an agreement cannot be struck.

At the same time, the government must carry out its plan, which has been long in the making, to integrate the Bedouins living in the Negev into Israeli society, as well as realize the sizeable investment that will improve the lives of Israeli Arabs, who are becoming increasingly Israelis. As a Jewish state, we have a moral obligation toward the minority groups living among us.

As far as the economy is concerned, Israel has two significant weaknesses: The first one is the steadily growing socio-economic gap between the rich and the average Israeli. This is the result of an economy led by high technology and smart services, two fields where only a few earn big money, while the majority earns low wages, unlike, for example, a tourism-based economy.

We must find clever ways to change this situation without undercutting investors. The smear campaign targeting affluent Israelis simply because of their wealth is mean-spirited, foolish and harmful to the economy. The necessary change requires in-depth analysis, because frankly, nowhere in the world has a satisfactory solution been found.

The second prominent issue, which is simpler to resolve, is soaring housing prices. The rise has yet to slow down despite the efforts focused on the issue in recent years. These are the two most pressing economic problems.

Another field deserving of resources and efforts is education. Israel must utilize the considerable talents at its disposal to promote the level of education and help those struggling to give their children good education. Financial plights cannot be allowed to deprive the next generation of a top-notch education. This is easier said than done, but it is our duty -- for the sake of Israel's future.

Israel should also promote the integration of the ultra-Orthodox in the workforce. That, together with the advancement of the natural gas industry, could spell a boon for the economy.

From the current perspective of a strong, thriving, 68-year-old country, Israel must keep thinking about the challenges of the next 32 years. By the time Israel celebrates in centennial, it must resolve its major issues and intensively engage the question of the identity and character of the only Jewish state, so to ensure it will thrive in the future. That is largely up to us, the Israeli public.

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