Editor's Letter Israel's Economic Juggernaut I srael derives its entrepreneurial heart from the military training and battlefield experience that most Israelis get. Israeli soldiers learn to lead and manage people, improvise, become mission oriented, work in teams and contribute to their country. They tend to leave their years of service more mature, directed and skillful than their peers in other countries. They learn "the value of five min- utes," one general told public policy expert Dan Senor and journalist Saul Singer, co-authors of the 2009 New York Times business bestseller Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle. In a March 2 online interview with the JN, Senor said, "They even learn something more uniquely Israeli: To speak up — regardless of ranks and hierarchy — if they think things can be done better." If you've ever met an Israeli, you know what Senor means — and I say that as a compliment to the Israeli spirit! The military exposure couples with an immigrant popula- tion of inherent risk takers and entrepreneurs to propel a national riptide of innovation and entrepreneurship. Senor lives in New York City with his wife and two kids. He is adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations as well as an investor in and adviser for a global investment fund. He has advised the Coalition in Iraq, the Pentagon and the U.S. Senate. Enlightened Sojourn The impetus for Start-Up Nation was a 2001 trip to Israel that Senor led. The Palestinians' second reign of terror against Israel had begun in September 2000. At the time of the trip, Senor was a second-year student in the Harvard Business School. The trip included 30 students; 27 were not Jewish and had no ties to the Jewish state. The idea was to examine economic opportuni- ties as well as Israel's history and politics. Trip goers quickly discovered the huge economic opportunity to invest and do business despite Israel being a young country with no natural resources and no access Author Dan Senor to regional capital or regional markets. "If you were to paint a picture of the circumstances under which you're not going to have a successful economic develop- ing country, it would be Israel," Senor told me. Ah, but one of Israel's gifts is the will to excel, challenges aside. The state's economic firepower is staggering. Israel represents the highest concentration of innovation and entrepreneurship in the world, as Senor reports. It boasts the most start-ups per capita; the highest percentage of gross national product invested in civilian research and develop- ment; more companies on NASDAQ than all of Europe, Korea, Japan, India and China combined; and the biggest destination for global venture capital per capita. Israel is only 62 years old, has only 7.1 million people and is located in one of the most hostile regions anywhere for Jews. Yet it raises 2.5 times as much global venture capital as America, 30 times more than Europe, 80 times more than India and 350 times more than China. These numbers are from 2008 when Israel all but escaped the meltdown that roared through economies everywhere else. It's a stunning story that local Jews can hear more about when Senor keynotes a March 17 fundraiser for the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's 2010 Campaign. In light of his appearance, I invite Senor to address in his remarks whether, given Israel's economic expansion and Detroit's eco- nomic contraction, whether Federation should consider keep- ing even more Israel and overseas dollars home, at least until our home-turf needs subside. Ed Cherkinsky has been Never Satisfied While there has been a burst of clean-tech ventures in Israel, most exciting to the Start-Up Nation authors are the compa- nies and sectors you'd least likely expect in Israel — from a world-class digital animation studio in Jerusalem to a next- generation asset management industry in Tel Aviv. No Jew should be surprised by Israel's penchant for recasting adver- sity into assets that form the bedrock of an inventive culture. Adversity of all kinds — being small, isolated and under attack — has forced Israel to be resourceful, to do more with less, to tinker and be global. "Israel leads the world in medical device patents partly because when Israelis discover a tech- nology:' Senor said, "they can't help but consider applications to solve unrelated problems." One such innovator is Given Imaging, whose founder real- ized the miniaturized sensing systems in the nosecone of a fighter jet could serve a medical purpose. He adapted the sensor to produce a swallowable camera to beam out a movie from inside a patient's intestines — making some highly invasive and painful diagnostic surgeries all but obsolete. Way To Peace START-UP NATION The Story of loners Economic Miracle DAN SENOR de SAUL SINGER & Wadi os r0.0 WOW.* For over seven years, From a political standpoint, it's clear that Israel's economic success has been central in convincing the Arab world that Zionism isn't going away. This, of course, is "the threshold incentive for the Arab world to end its attempt to destroy Israel:' as Senor so eloquently put it. "The moment the Arab world is ready for peace he said, "the oppor- tunities for economic cooperation are great — and Israel could play a pivotal role in helping regional economies advance." I was struck by Senor's assessment that the non-tech por- tion of the Israeli economy is over-concentrated, over-regu- lated and over-taxed. If Israel applied to that sector the con- ditions driving its high-tech sector and, at the same time, evened out demographic participation in the labor force, the country could grow even faster, Senor said. Israel could even become one of the top-10 largest econo- mies in the world, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggests. Yes, we're talking about tiny Israel, vilified by anti- Zionists the world over. volunteering at JARC. His most rewarding experiences have been with the men from JARC's Evelyn and Salman Grand Home. Nearly every Thursday evening, Ed has a "guy's night out" with Jack, Ruben, Robert, Michael, Ivan and Chuck. According to Ed, "We've become very close. I am grateful to be part of their lives and to have them as part of mine." Your generous support will help Ed, the men of the Grand Home and others have meaningful and fulfilling experiences. Help JARC continue... 248.538.6611 jarc.org ❑ More on Dan Senor's local appearance: page Z March 11 • 2010 5