Happy birthday, Israel!
Israel has approached its 75th anniversary in good shape. The Economist ranked it fourth among the most successful economies last year. At the same time it was not always like this.
The first years of independence were not easy for the young Jewish state. After winning the war in 1949, up to 40% of its GDP went to defense — Confrontation with its hostile neighbors could resume at any time.
Hundreds of thousands of immigrants were coming into the country, and it was difficult for the economy of a newborn state to employ or simply feed them. US aid and reparations from Germany for the crimes against Jews during World War II helped Israel survive in those years.
Israel did not squander that money. For a long time, the reparations provided more than half of the revenue and were used to develop infrastructure, while creating jobs for the new Israeli citizens.
Much of what was created in those years — centralized water supply, a road network — laid the foundations for an efficient economy and allowed Israel to focus on what Jews do best: learning. A country the size of the Lviv region had no other option.
Knowledge made it possible to maximize the use of Israel’s most valuable resource — the human resource. Knowledge helped transform the country from the desert without natural resources into an exporter of gas to the European Union, water to our neighbors in the Middle East, and agricultural products to the rest of the world. Knowledge helped in building an advanced economy, winning seven wars and conducting more than 20 successful special operations.
The stories of the struggle for independence and freedom in Israel and Ukraine are similar in many ways. I am sure that the successful experience of Israel will also be useful to us for the post-war recovery of the economy.
Hag Yom haAtzma’ut Sameach!
Happy birthday, Israel!
