| | Between Buffet and Ahmadinejad:
Two Radically Different Takes on Israel's Future—
And What They Mean for the New Israeli Leadership
A Weekly Briefing on Israeli and Middle Eastern Affairs
May 15, 2006 Dr. Eran Lerman
Director Israel/Middle East Office The contrast could not have been any starker. On one hand, the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, busily positioning himself and his country to inherit the mantle of the USSR as the true nemesis of American imperialism, was confidently predicting that if Europe would only "open the gates" to the poor Israelis "jailed" in their besieged Zionist entity, they would all go back from whence they came and rid the region of their troublesome presence. (It is impressive, at times, to see how utter ignorance of a subject can give wings to one's creative imagination.) At the other end of the spectrum of opinion as to the resilience and capacity of Israeli society and industry was the announcement, last week, of the decision by Warren Buffet—whose views in these matters carry weight well beyond the confines of the specific transactions involved—to put $4 billion into Iscar, an Israeli manufacturing company that is the world leader in the production of precision blades (giving "cutting-edge technology" a whole new meaning). Led by a visionary industrialist, Stef Wertheimer, Iscar broke new ground not only in quality control, but also as a major player in promoting young entrepreneurs. Wertheimer's "industrial park/kindergarten" in the Tefen region of the Galilee is a supportive environment allowing innovative businesses to take baby steps and grow without having to worry, at first, about anything other than developing a good product and bringing it to market—an idea that has since won world recognition. Now his achievements have won the ultimate form of recognition. So, too, has a new aspect of Israel's identity been recognized. Amid our many tensions and tribulations, we have been transformed: What will define our future will no longer be just our political orientation, our military prowess, or even our agricultural achievements, which once symbolized the Jewish transition from the landless existence of exile to the new realities generated by the Zionist endeavor. It must also include—not to the exclusion of the former, but as an additional and complementary layer—the capacity to compete with the best that globalization has to offer, to keep up to speed in a rapidly changing economic environment, to gain and hold our rightful place among the small club of developed and even highly developed nations. (Israel indeed is now on the threshold of membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the OECD.) With a huge and growing part of the Israeli economy dominated by export-driven industries, it is much too late to turn back the clock on integration and to try, as some voices in Israel suggest, to retrieve the protectionist structures that shielded us for years against the harsh winds of change. Those who heard Gidi Greenstein's exhortation on this subject during AJC's International Leadership Conference (following the Annual Meeting) in Washington, D.C., were treated to a powerful intellectual exposition of this case: The capacity for change, which was always part of what kept the Jewish people alive, is as central to our survival today as it was when Yohanan ben Zakai came up with a way to redefine Jewish life despite the destruction of the Temple. To be able to take full advantage of the changing economic climate, it is necessary for the new Israeli leadership to look afresh at all our challenges. There are clear signs that at the helm now stand people who are mindful of these issues. Ehud Olmert is the first prime minister since Levi Eshkol to have come from the economic ministries—first Trade and Industry, then Finance. His insistence on retaining the latter under his direct control (Avraham Hirschzon, the new minister of finance, is considered Olmert's closest political ally), even at the cost of offering the Labor Party's leader, Amir Peretz, the highly demanding position of minister of defense, speaks volumes about his sense of priorities. Still, what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stands for is a danger that must not be ignored, even amid the growing signs of self-confidence (and self-congratulation) within Israeli society: It must be contained and defeated. Under the shadow of the Iranian bomb—if we were ever to come to that sad point—few Buffets, if any, would take the risk. Aliya would be cast in doubt. Young Israelis would wonder about the chances they are running; and well before any ayatollah fingers the trigger, the effect would be painful and persistent. To realize our potential—to have a future for our children—we need to live without this shadow hanging over our heads. There are other, more internal, constraints: To be competitive, Israel must bring more and more segments of its society into the productive realm. Hence the need to empower Arab women. Hence also the urgent need to reform the existing arrangements with the ultra-Orthodox, who under the present system are obliged—once they commit themselves to a life of Torah study, and thus avoid military service—never to have any other gainful employment. With a new and energetic minister of justice, and an activist court urging the Knesset to solve this problem in an equitable way within the year, we can expect this front as well, important to the engines of growth in Israeli economic life, to generate an inordinate level of political action. Interesting times lie ahead. | |
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