Israel: Nation of Miracles

Liberal media outlets rarely, if ever, report Israel’s achievements. For that matter, they tend to focus only on the flaws and controversies of America and other Western democracies, while romanticizing even the most backward and repressive regimes of the developing world as somehow more “authentic” or morally pure.

Even Israel’s friends and supporters often lose sight of – or are simply unaware of – many of its extraordinary accomplishments.

That’s unfortunate, to say the least, because there are few sagas in modern history that rival Israel’s story: the transformation of a besieged, pioneering, young nation – in just over seven decades – into a modern, vibrant democracy with a quality of life comparable to that of Western Europe’s. The world’s only Jewish state, born against all odds in the aftermath of the darkest period in Jewish history, is a society of universities, hospitals, cultural institutions, and social vitality that would be remarkable anywhere, let alone in a nation that has never known a single full day of peace.

Besieged was no metaphor in Israel’s formative years. In the early 1950s, the roughly 30-mile drive south from Tel Aviv to what is now the modern coastal city of Ashkelon – then, little more than a development town with a plan and a dream to become a regional urban center – was dangerous because of terrorist infiltrations. Jerusalem, until Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War of 1967, was physically divided, with Jordanian snipers stationed on the ramparts of the Old City Walls frequently firing at residents of vulnerable border neighborhoods. Children walked to school behind sandbag and cement fortifications, and families hung sheets over windows to obscure the view of enemy gunmen. Along the frontiers, kibbutzim and moshavim lived under constant threat of cross-border raids and gunfire.

In addition to decades of terrorism, the list of major wars and conflicts Israel has been forced to fight is almost beyond comprehension: 1948 War of Independence; 1956 Sinai Campaign; 1967 Six-Day War; 1967–1970 War of Attrition; 1973 Yom Kippur War; 1978 South Lebanon Conflict (Operation Litani); 1982 First Lebanon War (Operation Peace for Galilee); 1987–1993 First Intifada; 2000–2005 Second Intifada; 2006 Second Lebanon War; 2008–2009 Gaza War (Operation Cast Lead); 2023–Present Gaza War (Operation Iron Swords); and the 2025 conflict with Iran (Operation Rising Lion).

Amid unending vigilance and sacrifice, Israel has performed a miracle of national development. Its story is not merely one of survival, but of civilizational triumph.

As David Ben-Gurion said, “In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.”

Perhaps no truer words were ever uttered by a politician. Israel’s early years were marked by scarcity and determination. Immigrants – Holocaust survivors from war-torn Europe and refugees from persecuted and menaced Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities – arrived with little more than faith and skills. The economy rested on farming, construction, and light manufacturing – industries essential for nation-building but far from the high-tech country Israel would become.

Back then, the dream was simple yet profound: to make the desert bloom, to house the homeless, to give a devastated, dispersed people back its dignity. Kibbutzim and moshavim coaxed citrus and other crops from stubborn soil, and small factories supplied an isolated population that was barely a million – now over 10 million.

Within a single generation, the change was incredible. Israeli scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs turned scarcity into invention. By the late 1980s, Israel had launched satellites, developed advanced defense systems, and built research universities that would make it a global center of innovation.

Today, Israel is widely recognized as the Startup Nation due to its exceptionally high density of emerging technology companies and entrepreneurial spirit. With the highest number of startups per capita globally, Israel leads the world in R&D spending as a percentage of GDP. Its entrepreneurial ecosystem, including domestic and foreign venture capital investment, is admired worldwide.

More than 100 Israeli companies trade on the Nasdaq – the fourth highest number of companies listed on the exchange after the United States, Canada, and China. From cybersecurity to biotech, fintech to clean energy, Israeli firms are woven into the infrastructure of the global economy. The sheer scale of this achievement, in a country about the size of New Jersey, defies precedent.

Israeli engineers created the USB flash drive, Intel’s Pentium and Core processors, and the firewall technology that underpins modern cybersecurity. Microsoft’s Windows NT and XP operating systems were mainly developed in Israel.

Israeli programmers developed Waze, the navigation app that changed how the world drives. The company’s success exemplified Israel’s startup culture: a local venture capitalist and a group of Japanese seed money investors willing to take a chance on an idea that married grassroots mapping and real-time traffic intelligence. From those beginnings emerged a company that Google eventually acquired for over a billion dollars.

Other Israeli innovations include Mobileye, the world leader in autonomous driving technology, and Check Point Software, the pioneer of global cyber defense.

If technology has been Israel’s economic engine, medicine has been its moral beacon. Israeli scientists pioneered the ReWalk exoskeleton, allowing paraplegics to walk and climb stairs again; the PillCam, a swallowable capsule that photographs the digestive tract from within; Babysense non-wearable, non-contact, medically approved monitors to prevent crib death; and revolutionary immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

The Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv ranks among the top hospitals in the world. Israeli doctors lead in emergency medicine, pediatric cardiology, and trauma care.

Teva Pharmaceuticals is the world’s largest producer of generic drugs, while Israeli biotech companies are leaders in stem-cell therapy, digital diagnostics, and medical robotics.

For a nation its size, Israel’s medical innovation is breathtaking – and deeply moral in its reach, extending humanitarian aid and expertise to developing countries, disaster zones, and conflict areas worldwide.

When Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica, Israel was among the first nations to respond. Within hours, a team of Israeli search-and-rescue specialists and medical professionals arrived on the island to assist in relief and recovery efforts.

This wasn’t an isolated act but part of a consistent Israeli policy that spans decades. Israel has sent emergency teams to earthquake zones in Turkey, Haiti, Nepal, and Morocco; to tsunami-stricken areas in Asia; and to refugee camps and war-torn regions from Ukraine to Africa.

Tragically, Israel’s own experience with terrorism and building collapses has forced it to develop extraordinary expertise in locating and rescuing victims from rubble – expertise it shares selflessly with the world.

The transformation of Israel’s landscape remains one of the marvels of the modern world. Two-thirds of its territory is arid or semi-arid, yet Israel turned scarcity into abundance.

Drip irrigation – an Israeli invention – revolutionized agriculture. But perhaps the most extraordinary achievement is water mastery. Israel leads the world in desalination. Five giant plants along the Mediterranean convert seawater into drinking water and water for irrigation and agriculture. Combined with wastewater recycling, Israel has achieved water security that even large nations envy.

In the Negev, greenhouses and vineyards now stand where nothing once grew. Solar farms generate renewable energy. Israeli agronomists share their methods in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, teaching others to achieve food and water independence.

Israel’s achievements extend beyond technology and agriculture to a deep national commitment to nature and ecology. From the earliest days of statehood, tree planting and land restoration were seen as acts of faith and renewal. Millions of trees have been planted through the Jewish National Fund, transforming once-barren hills into forests and parks. Israel was among the first nations to establish a Ministry of Environmental Protection, and today it leads in wildlife conservation and green architecture. The country’s network of nature reserves protects desert ecosystems, migratory bird habitats, and coastal marine life – preserving the land’s beauty even as it is made productive.

The killing of 39-yer-old Gail Rubin, an American Jewish nature photographer, by Palestinian terrorists decades ago, speaks volumes about the moral gulf between the Jewish State – whose people revere life and creation – and its barbaric enemies, who glorify cruelty and destruction. On March 11, 1978, Rubin, who had made aliyah after a distinguished editorial career in her native New York City, was photographing rare birds on the beach near kibbutz Ma’agan Michael on Israel’s northern coast when she was shot to death by PLO infiltrators from Lebanon. She became the first of 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children, murdered in the mass shooting spree that became known as the Coastal Road Massacre. Another 76 Israelis were wounded in the terrorist attack – the deadliest in Israel’s history until the Nova Music Festival Massacre on October 7, 2023.

In response to the 1978 massacre, Israel launched Operation Litani, sending its forces into southern Lebanon to root out the PLO strongholds from which the terrorists had come.

No wonder people who visit Israel for the first time are often astonished. In spite of all the horrific tragedies and pressures, they see a country that never stops creating, building, and believing in the future.

Israeli cities gleam with confidence. Tel Aviv’s skyline now rivals that of the world’s major capitals. Jerusalem’s light rail line glides through the capital’s key sections, including the City Center, Mahane Yehuda Market, and the area near the Old City walls where the Jordanian snipers once were positioned. Haifa’s terraced neighborhoods overlook the Mediterranean – a testament to urban planning and civil engineering.

Along Israel’s coasts, world-class beaches, hotels, marinas, and restaurants blend leisure with cosmopolitan energy. The country’s southernmost city, Eilat, which is situated on the northern tip of the Red Sea, has grown from being a remote outpost into a busy port with a modern airport – and major international resort known for its year-round sunshine and calm, clear waters.

In Judea and Samaria, several “West Bank settlements” have developed to the point where they now resemble large towns or small cities. The four largest of these population centers have official city status, including Ariel, considered the “capital of Samaria” by its residents, which boasts a large industrial zone and a regional university.

Ben Gurion Airport, once modest by international standards, can now hold its own among the world’s leading airports for efficiency, design, and passenger comfort.

New highways, commuter rail systems, and fast trains have bound the country together. A high-speed, fully electric rail line connects Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The trip typically takes about 34 minutes. Travel time by train between Tel Aviv and Haifa ranges from an hour to an hour and 15 minutes, depending on the number of stops.

Israel’s suburbs have blossomed into smart, family-centered communities. The spacious campus of Tel Aviv University in the northern part of Tel Aviv called Ramat Aviv, which has a modern, semi-suburban character, evokes the feel of California campuses. The eco-campus of the Technion is a statement of sustainability, while Ben-Gurion University proceeds to rebuild and recover from more than $200 million of damage caused by Iranian ballistic missile attacks. Beneath the newness, archeology continues to connect the past to the present. Israel is at the forefront of archeological exploration, with ongoing projects yielding discoveries of global import as well as confirming the deep and continuous connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. Excavations from Jerusalem to the Galilee have uncovered inscriptions, seals, coins, pottery, and architectural remains that align with Biblical accounts and illuminate the daily life of the ancient Israelites. From the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the unearthing of the City of David, each find strengthens the historical record of a people rooted in the land for millennia.

Israel’s talent for discovery doesn’t stop at archeology. The country’s intellectual contributions far exceed its size. The Nobel Prize has been awarded to 14 Israelis since 1948 – more laureates per capita than the U.S., Germany, and France.

Beyond science and commerce, Israel’s cultural life radiates creative energy. Theater, film, music, and literature thrive in a climate of intellectual honesty and artistic boldness. Contemporary Israeli painters and sculptors are exhibited worldwide. Hebrew literature flourishes with voices as diverse as the nation itself.

Israel’s sports culture mirrors the national character – spirited, determined, unwilling to yield in the face of adversity. From soccer fields to basketball arenas, athletics are a vital part of the country’s social fabric with strong team showings internationally. Individual Israeli athletes have also excelled on the world stage. In judo, windsurfing, gymnastics, and sailing, Israeli champions have earned medals and acclaim while Israeli runners, swimmers, cyclists, and Ironman competitors continue to make their mark.

And despite the trauma of the Munich massacre in 1972, Israel never withdrew from Olympic competition – a testament to its resilience and determination to stand proudly among the nations of the world.

Israel’s journey is, at its core, a moral and spiritual triumph. It proves that democracy can thrive in the Middle East, that faith and freedom can coexist, and that a small nation armed with courage, intellect, and vision can illuminate the world.

Of course, Israel isn’t a utopia. No nation is. Poverty, income inequality, and high living costs remain serious challenges. But to have built such a country under perpetual siege is an amazing achievement that merits celebration and study.

From plows to processors, from scarcity to abundance, from exile to sovereignty – the story of Israel is the story of a people who refused to surrender to history and instead chose to shape it.

And in the end, that may be the reason Israel is so resented by its detractors. For them, Israel is too successful, too modern, too Western. To those who romanticize the “exotic East,” Israel’s progress offends their sense of superiority. They prefer underdeveloped societies – and want them to stay that way, permanently.

Israel refused that role from inception. Its success exposes the hypocrisy of those who champion “the oppressed” only so long as they remain dependent.

In every field – science, medicine, culture, and courage – Israel’s light has illuminated a dark world.

Seventy-seven years after its birth, Israel is indeed a nation of miracles – not because it is flawless, but because it endures, builds, and contributes to humanity through its science, spirit, and strength.