(Spectator-UK) Dominic Green - On Wednesday, Israel marked 70 years of statehood, reflecting the "Ingathering of the Exiles" as promised in the Book of Deuteronomy. Nothing like this has happened in recorded history. No other post-colonial state has remained a democracy while granting its people a developed-world standard of living. In the IMF's 2018 forecasts for GDP per capita, Israel is 23rd out of 193 states - just behind France and New Zealand, and just ahead of Japan and the UK. Due to the Arab boycott of Israel, most of which is still in place, the Israelis had to invent an economy and orient it to the West. The result is a knowledge-based society. Another factor was the windfall of highly trained engineers from the post-Soviet states, coupled with a fertile environment for private initiative. Israel has got so good at its defense that it has the most powerful military between the Atlantic and the Himalayas. Not bad for a tiny country that is also the West's only reliable ally in the Middle East. The whole country is an advanced listening post, and a constant source of intelligence to Western states.
2018-04-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive