Monday, January 15, 2018

Guest Post: Israel's Accomplishments and Contributions to the World

Contributed by Carrie

A bit of research points out that Israel is the best ally we have had since WWII! Whether you know it or not, many of the triumphs listed below have benefited you in one way or another.
Israel is driven to help others around the world. This tiny nation’s accomplishments have been shared world-wide to benefit humanity, no matter the politics. Just look at the sample list of highlights of this amazing nation’s achievements.

1. The Middle East has been growing date palms for centuries. The average tree is about 18-20 feet tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year.  Israeli date trees are now yielding 400 pounds per year and are short enough to be harvested from the ground or a short ladder.

2. Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can lay claim to the following:
     a. The cell phone was developed in Israel by working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.
     b. Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft - Israel.
     c. The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel. Both the Pentium - 4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel. The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel.
     d.  Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.
     e.  Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel.
     f.  The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

3. Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the U.S, Russia, and China). In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel's air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16's. This is the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the United States.

4. Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.

5. Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.

6. According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security. US officials now look (finally) to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.

7. Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.

8. Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people - as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

9. In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute numbers, Israel has the largest number of start-up companies compared to every other country in the world, except the U.S.! (3,500 companies mostly in high-tech).  With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of high-tech companies in the world, apart from the Silicon Valley, U.S.

10. Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U.S.
Outside of the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ-listed companies.

11. Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East.

12. On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.

13. Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland.  Further, 12 percent hold advanced degrees.

14. Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

15. In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon and Moses) at Risk in Ethiopia to safety in Israel.

16. When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times.

17. When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day and consequently saved three victims from the rubble.

18. Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship, and the highest rate among women and among people over 55, in the world.

19. Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity.  (Hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union)

20. Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."

21. Israel has the world's second highest per capita number of new books.

22. Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert!

23. Israel has more museums per capita than any other country in the world.

24. Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.

25. Regarding the medical field, an Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment.  Every year in U. S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.

26. Israel’s Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. It is used to view the small intestine from the inside to spot cancer and digestive disorders.

27. Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the camera and helps doctors diagnose a heart's mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.

28. Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions, Israel places first in this category as well.

29. A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the Clear Light device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct, all without damaging surrounding skin or tissue.

30. An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant in southern California's Mojave Desert.

31. Israel has proven itself as a world leader in desalination after decades of research and entrepreneurship. Despite the criticism that it is expensive, (Israel is working on this issue too) desalination is being used globally as a major solution to water shortages. As a world-leader in water technologies, Israel’s experts are helping communities around the globe to harvest water from the ocean.


All of the above have been accomplished while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth.

Thanks to Carrie for contributing this post!

19 comments:

Majormajor said...

Thank you Carrie! It's good to see the truth.

Jerry Critter said...

Don’t forget to mention that:

32. Israel has universal healthcare coverage with a lower cost and better results than th US.

33. Israel has government subsidized college education. Student tuition pays only a small part of the actual cost. Israel ranks second among OECD countries for the percentage of 25- to 64-year-olds that have achieved tertiary education.

Majormajor said...

There you go Jerry, Israel, a place you could call home.

TB3 said...

Thank you for this list. I did not know most of this, so this was interesting.

"A bit of research points out that Israel is the best ally we have had since WWII!"

Not Canada? Not the UK? :)

Dave Dubya said...

And they did it ALL without US aid money? Remarkable.

It's a pity conservatives value democracy in Israel but not here.

woodenman said...

Too bad there is a whole other side to Israel not covered in those 33 topics casting Israel in such a rosy light. If you were brave enough to Google "Israel's Atrocities" you would find how violent and brutal the Israel government is to their Arab and Palestinian neighbors.

Perhaps it is a subject that Conservative Christians would rather not discuss or debate about as Israel is special to them. I know this is the case with my sister, I can talk to her about any subject in the political realm but Israel is off limits.

Jerry Critter said...

Wood,
I suspect you will find a somewhat similar list if you google US Atrocities. Perhaps that’s why we have been such great allies.

Jefferson's Guardian said...

James and Jerry, your comments remind me of the old saying, "Birds of a feather flock together."

Genocide and the stealing of lands from the original inhabitants are part and parcel of each nation's darkest hours -- which conservatives attempt to sweep under the rug at every opportunity.

As far as the colluding relationship between the two, the phrase, "the tail wagging the dog", comes immediately to mind. Israel obviously directs foreign policy in this country.

Majormajor said...

Oren Dorell, USA TODAY Published 4:06 p.m. ET March 26, 2015

Indiscriminate attacks by Palestinians on civilians during last summer's 50-day fight with Israel killed more Palestinians than Israelis and amounted to war crimes, the Amnesty International rights group said.

Rocket attacks by Hamas and other armed groups killed six civilians in Israel. At least 13 Palestinian civilians were also killed, including 11 children, when Palestinian projectiles landed in the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza, according to a report by the group issued Wednesday.

The report comes as the Palestinian Authority prepares to join the International Criminal Court on April 1 and plans to seek charges of war crimes against Israel and Israeli officials. Joining the court could make the Palestinian Authority and Hamas vulnerable to prosecution.


"Palestinian armed groups, including the armed wing of Hamas, repeatedly launched unlawful attacks during the conflict, killing and injuring civilians," said Philip Luther, director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa program. "In launching these attacks, they displayed a flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law and for the consequences of their violations on civilians in both Israel and the Gaza Strip."

Amnesty International has also said Israel should be investigated for its conduct in the war, which killed at least 1,585 Palestinian civilians, including 530 children, and destroyed at least 16,245 homes in Gaza. On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians died.

According to the United Nations, more than 4,800 rockets and 1,700 mortars were fired from Gaza toward Israel during the war. Two hundred twenty-four projectiles hit Israeli residential areas, and as many others were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile-defense system.

Unguided munitions used by Palestinian armed groups "are inherently indiscriminate," and using such weapons is prohibited under international law, Amnesty International said.


Luther called on Palestinian armed groups to "end all direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks" and to take precautions to protect their own civilians. "This includes taking all possible measures to avoid locating fighters and arms within or near densely populated areas," he said.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in December that he would seek membership in the International Criminal Court.

The court has begun the process to open an investigation of the Gaza conflict. Any such prosecution would be the first time anyone outside Africa was charged by the court.

The United States, which is not a member of the international court, would oppose prosecuting Israel, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki has said.

Having the Palestinians turn to the international tribunal would pose risks for Israel, but it could backfire on Palestinian authorities, said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of Shurat Hadin-Israel Law Center, an Israeli group that uses international courts to seek financial redress for victims of terror.

Jefferson's Guardian said...

Once again, Chuck, you have no point and make no point. You're remorselessly, pointless.

Perhaps our host should change the name of his blog to Making Common Sense.

Majormajor said...

jG again my post goes right over your head.
James says all one has to do is google "Google "Israel's Atrocities". Which of course will show only "Israel's Atrocities".
See what happen when you google Palestine's atrocities, just comparing apples to apples.

woodenman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
woodenman said...

Hey Chuck, check out this article, all you know about Israel is the Disney version. How about hearing the other side of the story.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48632.htm


As much as you do not like it there are almost always two sides to a story.

I deleted this the first time because of a typo.

Jefferson's Guardian said...

Chuck, even the original inhabitants of the Americas fought back when their people were slaughtered and their land confiscated by westward expansion of the United States.

Would you fight back if invaders attacked your family and took possession of your home?

woodenman said...

A change of pace, Amira is one of five child prodigy singers I like to follow on You Tube.She won a singing show in Holland at the age of nine by teaching her self opera by watching You Tube. She is now 13 and has almost a cult like following including me. If you have headphones or great speakers you will appreciate this much more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M-EzrMM6jU&list=RD3M-EzrMM6jU


We can get back to politics after this break.

Darrell Michaels said...

James, thank you so very much for sharing Amira's beautiful performance. She is indeed amazing. What a truly remarkable gift she has with her beautiful voice.

Majormajor said...

Thanks James!

Dave Dubya said...

Mr. Paine and his sidekick must ignore all the other lands seized from Palestinians. It is ongoing:

Israel passes bill to seize private Palestinian land for Jewish settlements

Israel’s parliament passed a contentious law late Monday that allows the state to seize land privately owned by Palestinians in the West Bank and grant the properties to Jewish settlements for their exclusive use.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israel-passes-bill-to-seize-private-palestinian-land-for-jewish-settlements/2017/02/06/b6d14220-ec90-11e6-a100-fdaaf400369a_story.html?utm_term=.35d06a8f120e

Jefferson's Guardian said...

Dave, Mr. Paine, and his inept and pointless sidekick, continuously and repeatedly ignore facts, yet repeat cultish "alternate facts" at every chance and opportunity.

It's the conservative modus operandi. It's what makes America grate -- again, and again.