One might have ordinarily thought that with Israel facing a the myriad of issues it has - from corrupt politicians to rockets raining down onto its territroty and military action on its borders - that the country wouldn't be traveling all that well.
Not so, it seems. Naomi Klein raises some interesting questions:
"Gaza in flames; army camps springing up in the Golan Heights; a spy satellite monitoring Iran and Syria; war with Hezbollah a hair trigger away; a scandal-plagued political class facing a total loss of public faith.
At a glance, things aren't going well in Israel. So why, in the midst of such volatility, is the Israeli economy booming like it's 1999, with a roaring stock market and growth rates nearing China's?"
The answer, detailed in Klein's piece "Laboratory for a Fortressed World", in The Nation, is as follows:
"The key to Israel's supergrowth is not mysterious. Many of the country's young entrepreneurs are using Israel's status as a fortressed state, and its occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, as a kind of twenty-four-hour-a-day showroom--a living example of how to enjoy relative safety amid constant war. Now Israel is exporting that model to the world.
Discussions of Israel's military trade usually focus on the flow of weapons into the country--US-made Caterpillar bulldozers used to destroy homes in the West Bank and British companies supplying parts for F-16s. Overlooked is Israel's huge and expanding export business. Israel now sends $1.2 billion in "defense" products to the United States--up dramatically from $270 million in 1999. In 2006 Israel exported $3.4 billion in defense products--well over a billion more than it received in US military aid. That makes Israel the fourth-largest arms dealer in the world, overtaking the Britain."
Not so, it seems. Naomi Klein raises some interesting questions:
"Gaza in flames; army camps springing up in the Golan Heights; a spy satellite monitoring Iran and Syria; war with Hezbollah a hair trigger away; a scandal-plagued political class facing a total loss of public faith.
At a glance, things aren't going well in Israel. So why, in the midst of such volatility, is the Israeli economy booming like it's 1999, with a roaring stock market and growth rates nearing China's?"
The answer, detailed in Klein's piece "Laboratory for a Fortressed World", in The Nation, is as follows:
"The key to Israel's supergrowth is not mysterious. Many of the country's young entrepreneurs are using Israel's status as a fortressed state, and its occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, as a kind of twenty-four-hour-a-day showroom--a living example of how to enjoy relative safety amid constant war. Now Israel is exporting that model to the world.
Discussions of Israel's military trade usually focus on the flow of weapons into the country--US-made Caterpillar bulldozers used to destroy homes in the West Bank and British companies supplying parts for F-16s. Overlooked is Israel's huge and expanding export business. Israel now sends $1.2 billion in "defense" products to the United States--up dramatically from $270 million in 1999. In 2006 Israel exported $3.4 billion in defense products--well over a billion more than it received in US military aid. That makes Israel the fourth-largest arms dealer in the world, overtaking the Britain."
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