Not your grandfather's Israel

Today, Israel is home to the largest high-tech industry outside of Silicon Valley, is a leader in environmental and medical innovation, and is a generous supporter of humanitarian aid around the world. Examining her many contributions to the world helps us understand why Israel is such an invaluable asset to both the United States and members of the Columbia community.

Despite its modest population of nearly 7.5 million people, Israel has offered tremendous assistance to the developing world. Since 1948, over 140 countries have benefitted from Israel’s humanitarian aid. As was widely covered in the press, Israel, along with the United States, helped lead the rescue and recovery efforts in Haiti following its recent disastrous earthquake.

According to YorkRegion.com, an Ontario-based news website, Israel sent more doctors, nurses, and aid equipment to Haiti than the 22 Arab nations, the United Kingdom, and China combined. Israel’s 220 aid workers operated a multipurpose hospital that allowed it to treat 500 patients a day and complete many complicated procedures and surgeries. Israel also sent civil engineers and search and rescue teams that dug through rubble to find Haitians buried under debris. Furthermore, Israel’s humanitarian aid reaches Columbia. In affiliation with Ben-Gurion University in Beer-Sheva, Columbia’s Health Sciences Division has created a four-year medical degree program in Israel to prepare doctors to promote global health by specializing in refugee and disaster medicine.

Alongside her contributions to humanitarian aid, Israel is a leader in medical research and technology. Given Imaging, an Israeli company, developed the first ingestible video camera.

The camera, which fits into a pill and has been used by 65,000 patients worldwide, including those at Columbia’s New York Presbyterian Hospital, helps doctors diagnose cancer and other digestive disorders such as Crohn’s Disease. Hospitals worldwide are installing a computer system designed by the Israeli start-up company MDG Medical, which helps ensure that hospitals treat the right patients with the right medicines at the right time. The technology hopes to diminish the number of treatment mistakes—which result in the deaths of nearly 7,000 Americans every year—in hospitals. These are only a few examples of the many innovations that originated in Israel but benefit millions abroad.

Similar to the entrepreneurial spirit that fuels Israel’s medical innovation, Israel’s arid climate has fostered innovation in green technology. Israeli companies such as ZenithSolar and Luz II provide the solar panels used in California’s sprawling deserts. Their efforts mirror a recently announced SEAS program in coordination with Tel Aviv University, which attempts to improve the efficiency of solar panels. Zenith’s panels can hold 80 percent of the energy they absorb, making solar panels a pragmatic solution to energy conservation. Israeli companies are also pioneers in wind power. Rather than erecting massive, secluded wind farms, the Israeli company SOVNA is working to expand wind turbines to urban areas. As featured on CNBC, the company began placing turbines on top of skyscrapers so that it could capture wind power efficiently while conserving land and ground resources. By using everyday sources of wind power, SOVNA’s turbines can feed into local power grids and provide areas with 100 percent clean energy. Israel’s green technology boom is part of its larger high-tech industry.

Israel may have once been part of the cradle of civilization, but it is now the fertile ground for technological innovation, giving birth to many high-tech dreams. Nicknamed by some as “Silicon Wadi,” Israel lists 120 companies on the Nasdaq exchange, second only to the United States, and houses over 3,850 start-ups. These companies produce technology that revolutionizes the way we live, creating everyday products that we take for granted here on campus. The cell phone, AIM Instant Messenger, Windows XP, Pentium 4, and the flash drive all have roots in Israeli science labs. Israel’s prolific technology sector has attracted investors as prominent as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

Israel’s success is the fulfillment of Zionist dreams and Jewish values. Israel promotes social justice with its humanitarian aid and is a desert pioneer with environmental innovation as well as a center for creativity with its technology boom. Israel is no longer just a tourist trap with scenic beaches and biblical history.

It is a flourishing liberal democracy that contributes to the world economy and helps further world progress. As Columbia students plan for their futures and glance beyond their eventual graduations, it might be time to turn their sights on a new world in an old land: Israel.

Jonathan Huberman is a sophomore in the joint General Studies and Jewish Theological Seminary program. He is the director of public relations for LionPAC. Eric Lawrence is a sophomore in the joint General Studies and Jewish Theological Seminary program. He is the deputy director of public relations for LionPAC.