Weekly Commentary: Some things that make me optimistic about Israel
Dr. Aaron Lerner 16 March 2016

Last week I wrote "Excerpts from my worry list" and someone quipped that
they hope I would share my second list as well.

And there certainly are many things to be optimistic about.

1. The nation's resilience and determination. Despite all the predictions,
our kids still want to serve in combat units and when there's a war,
reservists often show up at their bases before they're even called. The
home front, facing rocket attacks, doesn't push for a quick ceasefire, but
rather for the job to be done.

2. Our export based economy is shifting from markets that are influenced by
politics to countries that have no interest in connecting trade with
Arab-Israeli affairs.

3. Our defense spending as a percentage of GNP is so low (less than 6%) that
if we had to drop all the American assistance it would only raise us back to
the burden we carried a decade ago.

4. Thanks to desalination there's effectively no limit to the growth of our
population.

5. Massive investments in our rail and road network are putting almost the
entire country within commuting distance.

6. Doors have opened to us to many important and emerging markets where we
make a critical contribution in agricultural and other technologies.

7. Prime Minister Netanyahu has managed to achieve relationships beyond
expectations - consider the attacks against balance-breaking weapons in
Syria despite the Russian S-400s deployed there.

8. The ultra orthodox community is undergoing a revolution with more and
more getting training and joining the labor force.

9. Despite all the talk of the heterogeneous nature of our society, there's
a strong sense of community meshing the mosaic together - not to mention the
family connections crossing groups - be it ultra orthodox -
religious-traditional-secular or Ashkenazi-Sfardi, etc.

Want an example?

Watch the video of a social experiment showing Israelis' reactions when
stopped by a "blind" man asking for help changing cash. Not one Israeli
cheated the man. In fact - some even gave him money!
https://youtu.be/UUVsTHRgN0s

More to come...
________________________________________
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il