Importance of Israel

by Roy Sasson
January 9, 2004
http://www.esasson.com/israel

Hi, my name is Roy Sasson, I am currently a senior at the University
of Florida majoring in Digital Arts and Sciences. I was born in 
Israel, and moved to the states at the young age of six. I've gone 
back to visit several times since, however my most recent trip 
allowed me to look at Israel through a completely different 
perspective. 

Over the past two weeks, I embarked on a memorable trip that has 
left an imprint in my life. Eighty students including myself from 
some of the most prestigious universities in the United States 
including Cornell, Penn State, Stanford, Columbia, The University 
of Florida (of course) and others, were invited to attend a trip 
to Israel to educate us in respect to the technology and business 
within the country. My expectation was simply 'another free trip 
to Israel'...I had no idea what I was in for. 

Prior to the trip, my perception was that Israel was practically 
a 3rd world country way behind its time, only a source of violence 
and turmoil. I saw first hand that Israel is in fact one of the 
major reasons as to why our modern world has become what it is 
today. Our trip was comprised of visits to top notch Universities, 
biotechnology companies, an aircraft development company, the 
stock exchange, meetings with venture capitalists, economists, 
business men, entrepreneurs, and prestigious professors. Some of 
the brightest students today had the opportunity to listen, 
interact, and most importantly question, some of the most amazing 
developments in technology. We witnessed these developments first 
hand, and got a chance to have them explained, not by their low 
level representatives, but by the actual scientists, professors, 
and business men themselves, and I have to say, it was nothing 
short of inspiring...

Let's just list the facts...

80% of biotechnology in the entire world comes from Israel. 
The Entire World. I'm talking about technologies that will 
revolutionize the world. One such account was a biotechnology 
company who will in three months time be approved by the FDA 
to perform operations to remove tumors without even penetrating 
the skin! Every laptop that you use from now on is powered by 
the new mobile centrino processor, a technology developed in 
Israel. A 3D face recognition technology was recently developed 
here (to combat terrorism) that is so sophisticated it can tell 
apart identical twins. Teva Pharmaceuticals developed the most 
effective drug to counter Parkinsons disease. Israel is home to 
a pill that when taken, captures images inside of the body. 
File formats such as gif and zip files that you use everyday, 
developed here. Smart cards for credit cards, the chips in your 
digital cameras. It is in large part due to Israel that the 
internet is where it is today. Many of the problems that we were 
facing on the internet in regards to communication, bandwidth, 
and security, had already been implemented in the Israeli Army. 
The first Instant messaging software, the first firewall...
the list is endless...

Huge companies such as Microsoft, HP, Intel, and IBM, establish 
major research and development centers in Israel looking to 
capitalize on the breakthroughs, genius, and talent. The US forces 
Israel to sign agreements not to adjust F15 and F16 fighter planes 
Israel buys from the United States with superior radar and other 
advanced technologies Israel possesses. Over 100 Israeli companies 
are listed on the NASDAQ, third only to Canada. Israel is the 
world leader in environmental research, high-tech, and the arts. 
It is in Israel where students cracked the GSM cellular phone 
network encryption code.

Not surprisingly, over 50% of Israel's economy is driven by 
technology, and there are various reasons for this; their local 
market is only 6 million (really small), I doubt that any of 
their neighbors (mostly Arab countries) would like to do business 
with them, eliminating a regional market. So when they develop 
these companies, technologies, and advances, they are built with 
the hopes and aspirations of making a difference in the world. 
It is a country where the entrepreneur has become the hero, and 
making an impact on the world is not uncommon.

Israel is a country built around art and education. When an 
Israeli is successful it does not simply affect his household, 
but the entire country, bringing up the economy, honor to the 
country, and a strong sense of pride. Just imagine if our 
capitalist society was focused on building companies and 
technologies to make a difference in the world, instead of 
making a difference in our pockets. Imagine the possibilities 
with an educational system enforcing the idea that you, the young 
and bright, can make a difference in the world, in a country 
where we do not have to worry about violence and terror as 
Israel does to maintain its survival.

One professor told of us of a story of a child who asked his 
father, serving in the Israeli Army "why do you fight?" 
His father answered, "I fight today so that your generation 
will have the opportunity to learn and be educated so that 
you may be engineers, so that the generation that follows yours 
may live to be poets and artists."

I wasn't told to write this, and I'm not exactly the most 
eloquent of speakers. I am writing this because I see it as 
my responsibility, privileged enough to have experienced these 
things first hand. I tell you all of this not to show you the 
importance of Israel from a Jewish perspective, but to show you 
the importance of Israel as part of the human race.

Roy Sasson - Roy@eSasson.com