To celebrate Israel, we must see the country, warts and all

JORDAN MOSHE

“Israel has the ability to make the world better for everyone, but if we want to see the full extent of the power that is Israeli innovation, we need to take it as it is, and see it, warts and all,” he told the audience in an exclusive address at Investec on Tuesday morning.

Jorisch was in South Africa for a 36-hour visit this week at the invitation of Aish South Africa. He addressed a dinner on Monday night, and then the Tuesday morning group.

He is a thought leader in exploring global innovation trends, the Arab world, counterterrorism, and illicit finance. He is also a student of Islamic history, and the author of five books.

Speaking about his latest book, Thou Shalt Innovate: How Israeli Ingenuity Repairs the World, he reiterated that if we saw the good and bad in Israel, we would be able to celebrate what a marvel the Jewish state is, and help it fulfil its social contract to help the world as an innovator and a think tank.

Although a banker at heart, Jorisch developed an obsession with Israeli tech innovation in 2014, and wanted to get to the heart of its success. “I wasn’t interested in looking at Israel as an economic miracle,” he said. “Jews making money is nothing new. Neither was I concerned with start-ups. I wanted to find mature Israeli tech companies, and understand how they have made such an impact, and improved the lives of thousands of people.”

By way of explanation, Jorisch explored the various technological projects where Israel has shown innovation in recent years, including in the areas of water and medical technology. On the subject of water, he said, “Israel is the only country in the world that is entirely water independent. Effectively, it is the only water superpower. Thanks to its development of certain innovations, Israel has achieved a unique position that no other country has.” For a country that is 60% desert, Israel’s advancements in water desalination, drip irrigation, waste water recycling, and other such inventions are unquestionably astonishing.

“Sixty percent of Israel’s water is sourced from the ocean,” said Jorisch. “Four hundred desalination plants exist around the world, and Israel built every one of them. Israel also recycles 90% of its waste water. The runner up is Spain, at 18%.” One of the only countries that charges its people the full cost of water without any subsidies, Israel has clearly made a concerted effort to conserve water where possible, and according to Jorisch, this will result in it assuming a prominent position in years to come.

“By 2025, Egypt will run out of water. The same will happen in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. In 20 years, Iran and Israel will become friends because of Israel’s water technology solutions. Arab countries won’t turn to the United States for water, but to Israel. The future for Israel is certainly bright.”

The innovation analyst went on to speak about the country’s medical innovation. “The average emergency medical response time in the world is 20 minutes,” he says. “For a person who needs immediate attention, this is too long. In Israel, the average is three minutes, and often 90 seconds in major cities.” This is possible only because of United Hatzalah’s Ambucycle network, regular motorcycles used by volunteers throughout Israel to make sure they get to emergencies within the first few minutes.

Other medical marvels include GPS mapping of the brain for precise surgery, robots which can map out human spines for back surgery (and perform it themselves), even exoskeletons that enable quadriplegics to run marathons. What underlines them all, said Jorisch, are three common factors.

“First, Israeli society is diverse,” he says. “Arabs, Christians, Bedouins, and Jews work together towards the same goals. Then, there is the fact that Israel places great emphasis on two of its major institutions, universities and the military. Lastly, the religious or prophetic vision of Israel is what lies at the heart of the culture of innovation.

“For 1 500 years, Jews have said in the aleinu prayer the line, letaken olam be’malchut Shakai (improving the state of the world in the kingdom of G-d). We have a social contract to help the world, and bring light to all its inhabitants. Jews have sought meaning for thousands of years, and have found it in helping others.”

Cautioning that this does not mean that Israel is the most innovative country on the planet, Jorisch stressed that Israel shines by going from nothing to something in spite of its problems. “It’s a start-up nation, not a scale-up nation,” he says. “Israel has its problems: the divide between rich and poor, the Palestinian conflict, and others.

“However, it is in spite of these problems that Israel continues to offer opportunity. When the state was established, Ben Gurion said that the gates of Israel had finally opened to the Jews of the world after 200 years. However, he added that the country now had a privilege and obligation to tackle 20th century problems and do good for the whole world. This lies at the soul of the state.”

Jorisch stressed that for too long, we have been feeding younger generations a narrative of victimhood, and that the time had come for a change of dialogue. “The time has come to tell younger people what they can do to make the world better.” Through innovation, Jews share a drive to do good, and change life for all. We are at a point in time when we are empowered to make the biggest difference ever, and have waited 2 000 years for this opportunity.”

He concluded by saying, “By taking the good and the bad of Israel, by seeing it for what it really is, we can celebrate it, and take it to new heights. Yes, we are concerned about its challenges, but we cannot overlook the things it has done, and continues to do that make us say, ‘Wow!’.”