For some, it is a mystery how Israel, a country of 7.23 million people with foreign adversaries and few natural resources, has achieved global success. Now, it is also the topic of a new book co-authored by Dan Senor.
Senor, former U.S. senior foreign policy advisor and current adjunct senior fellow for Middle East Studies on the Council on Foreign Relations, spoke Wednesday night at Hillel about his New York Times best-selling book Start-Up Nation: The Success Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle.
The idea for the book came when Senor led a group of Harvard MBA students on a trip to Israel in 2001, he explained to the standing-room-only crowd. “While there, it occurred to [co-author] Saul [Singer] and I that staring at us was the model… we started wondering whether the world could learn something about Israel,” Senor said.
Senor stressed the contribution of Israel’s mandatory military service for teenagers — three years for males and two for females. Learning what it means to lead, manage, improvise and take risks are all “invaluable skills in a start-up environment, and Israelis learn this at a young age,” Senor said.
He noted that, like their Israeli counterparts, American “business leaders have an obligation to learn about the different military titles and how that translates into the business arena,” he said.
Senor attributes Israel’s economic success to a combination of factors that have fostered entrepreneurial spirit and innovative success. He cited Israel’s progressive immigration and assimilation policies, noting the influx of 750,000 Jews from the former Soviet Union who brought with them advanced degrees in math and science. He also mentioned the role of civilian research and development.
Senor said he hopes his book will contribute to changing Israel’s narrative from political victimization to economic optimization. “The West needs innovation — Israel’s got it,” Senor said. “Where it got it, where it’s going, is a question for our times.”
Student reaction to Senor’s speech was positive. “I think Dan Senor did a very good job presenting the economy of Israel. I learned a lot about how a government can encourage entrepreneurship and how these are core values that we should use in the future,” College freshman Chaim Gevaryahu said.
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