Israel has enjoyed an astounding, and in many ways quite surprising, transformation from a semi-socialist state continuously focused on defense and security issues to a global technology leader in a variety of fields. A number of books and articles have chronicled this journey including “Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle”, written by Senor and Singer. However, a recent article in The Economist describes several key issues that Israeli policymakers, investors and entrepreneurs must address in order for the country to move “beyond the start-up nation” including expanding the role of high-tech firms as employers, building global technology players and successfully transferring know-how and talents to new emerging areas such as Internet content, water management, agricultural science and alternative energy. Another concern, which will not go away regardless how the intensely volatile political issues in the region are resolved, is how Israel ultimately integrates Arab-Israelis and ultra-orthodox Jews, who will together be about one-third of the population by 2025, into its business culture.
