Weekly Commentary: Will Israeli Leadership Leverage Russian Invasion For
Dramatic Changes
Dr. Aaron Lerner 27 February 2022

Pretty much every talking head broadcast in Israel since Russia launched its
invasion of the Ukraine has mentioned that we Israelis see clearly that we
must rely on ourselves.

And while these events may make Israelis even more skeptical of proposals
for arrangements with the Palestinians and other which rely on international
guarantees , the real question is if our
leaders will leverage this "lesson" to institute dramatic changes.

#1. An overall ramp-up in development and production of defense
systems/equipment with a shift to made In Israel production to minimize the
possibility that third parties can impact timely supplies while delinking
the programs from budget decisions made across the Atlantic.

#2. Huge investment in advanced AI to insure that we are ahead of the pack
when the consequences of being behind could be catastrophic.

All of this requires that our economy grows at a breakneck speed to support
this burden.

That's "all hands on deck" - high labor force participations rates (among
other things, removing income-based discounts for family units in which the
husband is not actively employed).

That's a skilled work force - (among other things requiring adequate
instruction in the core set of skills in all educational institutions: math,
English, etc.).

And there is more.

For example, it is now clearer than ever that we simply cannot afford the
development of a multi-front "perfect storm". And that mean replacing the
current "quiet for quiet" model with Hamas and Hezbollah which essentially
permits them to continue their programs to dramatically advance their
ability to hurt us as long as they don't shoot yet with a pro-active
approach which stops these program now in their tracks.

Can our leaders pull this off?
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