Against All Odds

September 2, 2015

by: Ilse Posselt, Correspondent, BFP Newsroom

The 2009 bestseller, Start-up Nation: the Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle, hails the Jewish state as “the greatest concentration of innovation and entrepreneurship in the world today.” The Economist agrees. “Adjust for population and Israel leads the world in the number of high-tech start-ups and the size of the venture-capital industry.”

Unlikely Incubator

Israel’s lightning leap from virtually nowhere to its current place as a high-tech superpower would have been a spectacular achievement for any country, even under the most opportune circumstances. Yet Israel’s circumstances have been anything but opportune. In fact, for the most part, conditions have hovered somewhere between unlikely and downright impossible.

The Jewish state has fought a significant war every decade for the past 60 odd years. All too often, Israel’s battle is for survival, not for high-tech superpower status. Moreover, says MoneyWeek, “A country in a semi-permanent state of war hardly sounds promising for investors.”

The mass media often paints the Jewish state as an overpowering force. Yet Israel is tiny; a mere speck on the world map. Some 768 “Israels” would fit into the United States, 58 into South Africa and 6 into England. The Jewish people comprise less than 0.2% of the world’s population. Only about half of them call Israel home.

Global Innovation Hub

Yet despite the hostile circumstances, tiny home base and seemingly trivial amount of human resources contributing to its talent pool, Israel has emerged as a global leader in innovation and R&D (Research and Development).

The Jewish state has some 90 companies listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ). Only the United States and China have more. Israel is considered one of the largest centers for technology start-up enterprises, with 2,500 start-up companies operating in the country and some 200 more being launched every year. Moreover, the 2015 Compass Global Start-up Ecosystem ranking awarded Tel Aviv top honors as the #1 start-up center in all of Europe.

Israelis seem to have a knack for thinking outside the box. “Just when you think you have seen everything, along comes something even more impressive, such as a start-up with a nanotechnology that has the potential to disrupt everything from batteries to display screens to semiconductors” (Wall Street Journal). “Try as you might, it is extremely hard not to be a bit star-struck by the Israeli technology scene.”

Against All Odds

Many have tried to offer an explanation for the success story that is Israel’s high-tech start-up scene. Some argue that it is a matter of turning adversity into a competitive advantage. Others hail Israelis as masters of survival who take their “refuse to die” attitude with them into the boardroom. Then there are those who credit mandatory military service, a pay-it-forward mentality and a desire to change the world. The latter is woven into the very fabric of Jewish society—the concept of tikun olam or repairing the world. Tikun olam is expressed as the obligation or responsibility of every Jewish person to work towards a better world for all of mankind.

Significant as these contributing factors may be, the explanation remains elusive. On the one hand, business leaders speculate, magnates deliberate and investors watch in amazement. On the other hand, there is a tiny nation surrounded by 22 hostile countries, always on guard, always battling for survival, but somehow winning incredible business accolades.

Inconceivable…yet this is the land of against-the-odds success stories. This is where David conquered Goliath and Gideon’s tiny army triumphed against the might of Midian. Thousands of years later, the role of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is even now undeniably evident in Israel. And just as He did in the past, He still uses that which seems small to confound the wise and mighty (1 Cor. 1:27).

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