“From the river to the sea…”
Let’s talk about such a scenario in which Israel is erased.
7:00 a.m.: You wake up and try to unlock your iPhone to read email, but it won’t unlock.
Why? Because Face ID is Israeli tech. It was invented by PrimeSense, and acquired by Apple.
7:30 a.m.: Before heading to work, you go into your garden to make sure your grass is being watered.
Nope, can’t use drip irrigation. That’s an Israeli invention.
8:00 a.m.: You get into your car and try to turn on Waze so you can know where there is traffic.
It won’t open because Waze is Israeli.
8:30 a.m.: On the way to work, you almost lose control of your car because it didn’t notify you that you were swerving out of your lane.
That’s because Mobileye is based in Jerusalem.
9:00 a.m.: “Fine,” you say to yourself, “I don’t need Waze or Mobileye anyway. Soon my car will be autonomous.”
Nope. Innoviz is Israeli.
9:30 a.m.: You get to work and get ready to have your first meeting on Microsoft Teams. It won’t work.
All the AI on Teams? Built in Herzliya.
10:00 a.m.: You try to use your USB thumb drive on your computer. No go.
Thumb drives (a.k.a. flash drives or memory sticks) were invented by Dov Moran at Msystems, and acquired by SanDisk.
11:00 a.m.: You need to access some classified information but it’s behind a firewall. No way around it.
Firewall technology? Invented in Israel.
12:00 p.m.: You look out your office window and the sky is so beautiful, you want to take a photo.
Nope. Smartphone dual lens technology was invented by Israeli company Corephotonics.
1:00 p.m.: You have a lot of work to do. You fire up your PC but it won’t boot up.
Is it running on an Intel processor? Oh, yeah, that was designed in Israel.
2:00 p.m.: You’re getting really frustrated. Nothing is working! So you turn to Google, but even that won’t work.
Google builds many of its products in Tel Aviv.
3:00 p.m.: You decide to FaceTime your wife to vent your frustrations. Why won’t it work?!
Because voice over IP was invented in Israel.
3:30 p.m.: You’re really losing patience, so you go to your favorite instant messenger program to speak to a friend.
Nope, instant messaging was invented in Israel.
4:00 p.m.: You give up and decide to focus on work exclusively – you need to build a website.
Sorry, Wix is Israeli. You can’t use it.
5:00 p.m.: You get a call from your doctor. He wants you to come in because he saw something troubling in your last check-up. He wants to use the PillCam.
You have to inform him that’s a no-go. That’s Israeli tech.
6:00 p.m.: Since your car is unreliable, you decide to take public transportation. But your Moovit app won’t load for some reason.
It’s Israeli.
6:30 p.m.: You decide to do some shopping for a new car because it’s time to go electric.
Sorry. Better Place CEO Shai Agassi pioneered the infrastructure for electric cars in 2012.
7:00 p.m.: You get a call with bad news – your relative was recently diagnosed with cancer. He needs your help finding the best treatment.
Unfortunately, you can’t help him because many of the leading cancer treatments were developed in Israel by companies like Novocure and Vascular Biogenics.
8:00 p.m.: You’ve had a hard day and just want to chill out in front of your social media feeds. But none of your feeds will load.
Meta, parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has many offices in Israel.
9:00 p.m.: Time for a late dinner. You want to prepare alternative meats or dairy products.
Your supermarket doesn’t sell them, however, because Redefine Meat and Remilk are Israeli startups.
10:30 p.m.: You decide to read your book, but you can’t find your glasses anywhere.
That’s because you bought them on GlassesUSA, an Israeli company.
11:00 p.m.: Your last resort: Watch some TV. Wait – your Samsung TV won’t turn on!
Samsung has many offices in Israel, including Samsung Next, a fund that invests in tech.
You go to sleep and hope tomorrow will be a better day.
Here, try this new rhyme instead: “From the river to the sea, if Israel is gone, what will be with me?!”
