For all Israel's challenge in being accepted by the Palestinians, the neighborhood, Muslims, leftists, antisemites, conspiracy theorists, and assorted cranks, it has a dazzling record of success. The country's military prowess – operational and technological alike – is renowned; but the Jewish state, population 7.7 million, is no less impressive in other areas too. (June 13, 2011)
(For a discussion of this same topic but in essay form, see "Happy Israel," The Washington Times June 5, 2013.)
Birth rate: Israel has by far the highest demographic rate in the developed world. Its 2012 total fertility rate (TFR), or births per woman, is 2.65. It is followed by France, New Zealand, and the United States, coming in at 2.08, 2.06, and 2.06. Former demographic champions Ireland and Poland have fallen to 2.01 and 1.32, respectively. Outstandingly low rates include the Czech Republic (1.29), South Korea (1.24), and Taiwan (1.11). Singapore comes in last with an astonishing 0.79. (Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook, November 1, 2013)
Yesterday's problem: "We're here" asserted illegal immigrants from Eritrea in protest against Israel's refusal to grant them refugee status outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv in December 2008.
Army size: Israel's total population today is between that of Istanbul and Tehran but that may change: "At constant fertility, Israel will have more young people by the end of this century than either Turkey or Iran. ... Israel will be able to field the largest land army in the Middle East." Turkey has a TFR of 2.13 and Iran's is 1.87. (David P. Goldman, "Israel as Middle Eastern hegemon," Asia Times, May 24, 2011)
Illegal immigration: Alone of Western countries, Israel has nearly eliminated this problem. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu explained that the previous government (2009-12) "blocked the phenomenon of illegal migration. This was an extraordinary achievement for the State of Israel because every Western country, to some extent, has failed to do this. In effect, we succeeded in reducing entry into Israel's cities to zero. No illegal additional migrant has reached an Israeli city – not Tel Aviv, not Arad, not Eilat and not anywhere." This achievement permits the Government of Israel to advance to the next stage and repatriate illegals already in the country, either to their countries of origin or to third countries. ("PM Netanyahu's Remarks at the Start of a Discussion on Government Actions to Repatriate Illegal Migrants," Prime Minister's Office, July 14, 2013)
The Jerusalem Report's cover story on Israeli longevity.
Longevity: "Israeli men take the title of the world's highest life expectancy. ... [they] live on average to the age of 80.2, closely followed by Switzerland with 80. In all other countries in the Western world, including Japan, men die, on average, in their 70s." (Shula Kopf, "Living Life to the Full," The Jerusalem Report, January 30, 2012) May 20, 2016 update: Four years later, the World Health Organization finds that Israel ranks seventh in the world in life expectancy, at 82.5 years, fifth highest for men (at 80.6 years) and ninth highest for women (84.3). Japan comes in first at 83.7 years, followed by Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, Spain, Iceland, and Italy; Sierra Leone comes in last, at 50.
Energy: "One of [Israel's] largest deposits – 250 billion barrels of oil in Israel's Shfela basin[ - is] comparable to Saudi Arabia's entire reserves of 260 billion barrels of oil." In addition to the sheer size of the deposits, Israeli engineers are pioneering technological innovations for its extraction. (Lawrence Solomon, "Israel's new energy," Financial Post, Jun 10, 2011) Walter Russell Mead takes this a step further, writing that "the Promised Land, from a natural resource point of view, could be ... inch for inch the most valuable and energy rich country anywhere in the world." ("Israel's Emergence As Energy Superpower Making Waves," The American Interest, July 2, 2012)
Creativity: "Israel, per capita, is the most creative and innovative country on the face of the earth." (George Gilder, author of The Israel Test, interviewed in "Choosing the Chosen People," National Review, July 30, 2009)
High technology: "Over the past two decades Israel has been transformed from a semisocialist backwater into a high-tech superpower. Adjust for population and Israel leads the world in the number of high-tech start-ups and the size of the venture-capital industry." ("Beyond the start-up nation," The Economist, December 29. 2010)
Classical music: "Israel has become a pocket superpower in the arts, most visibly in classical music. ... The distinctly Israeli take on the European classical tradition has become the country's most notable cultural export." (David P. Goldman, "Pioneers: A mix of passion and tradition makes Israel a classical-musical superpower," Tablet, July 21, 2010)
 The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. |
Water: Alexander Kushnir, head of Israel's Water Authority, reports that Israelis recycle over 80 percent of their waste-water for agricultural use, making them far and away the world's leaders; in Spain, the runner-up country, just 17-18 percent of waste-water is recycled. (Quoted in David Horovitz, "How Israel beat the drought," The Times of Israel, February 26, 2013) By 2014, more than a third of Israel's tap water will come from desalination. (William Booth, "Israel knows water technology, and it wants to cash in," The Washington Post, October 25, 2013)
Trash recycling: Israelis recycled about 77 percent of beverage containers in 2011,far more than Europe's 48 percent or the United States' 29 percent. (Sharon Udasin, "Israel passes US, Europe in bottle recycling," The Jerusalem Post, March 15, 2012)
 Claire Danes stars as a CIA officer in "Homeland," which is based on the Israeli series "Prisoners of War." |
Education: Israel has the second most educated population in the world, following only Canada, according to an analysis by 24/7 Wall St. Japan, the United States, and New Zealand follow. (January 31, 2012)
Cyber security: Israel is the most cyber-secure country in the world, along with Denmark and Sweden, earning 4½ out of 5 stars in a report prepared with the support of McAfee, Inc. (Brigid Grauman, Cyber-security: The vexed question of global rules. An independent report on cyber-preparedness around the world, Security & Defence Agenda, February 1, 2012)
Self-driving cars: The sale of Mobileye to Intel for $15.3 billion alerted the world to Israel's prowess in developing autonomous cars. (Mar. 13, 2017)
Dairy production: Israeli cows produce, on average, 12 liters (3.1 gallons) of milk a year, making them the most productive in the world. (May 25, 2017)
