Judaist Israel is a completely different kind in the Middle East, which is dominated by Arabs who believe in Islam. Since the ancient kingdom of Israel was annexed by the Roman Empire, Jews have been moving around the world for more than two thousand years. It was not until midnight on May 14 and 15, 1948, that Jews, who had been in exile for more than two thousand years, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel in Palestine, where the ancient Jewish state was located, but just a day later, the five Arab countries of Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon gathered more than 40,000 troops to attack Israel.
Since then, until 1982, there were five Middle East wars between Israel and the Arab countries: Israel won many battles and the Arab countries were repeatedly defeated. But Israel has not been able to change the harsh geopolitical environment it faces after winning five wars in the Middle East: the area under Israel's actual control is only 25,740 square kilometers. The length of the land of Israel is only 433 kilometers from north to south, only more than 50 kilometers wide from east to west, and the width of the Tel Aviv Corridor is only 10 kilometers from east to west. Israel, which lacks strategic depth, has always been surrounded by Arab countries that have absolute superiority in resources and manpower.
Although Israel has won five consecutive wars in the Middle East, Israel, which lacks strategic depth, is in danger of destroying the country as long as it loses once. Even without considering Israel's relations with arab states, Israel's territory is inherently harsh: more than 60 percent of Israel's land area is desert and dry, making it one of the world's most scarce countries for freshwater resources. The entire of Israel had only 6.15 million mu of arable land after the desert was eliminated, and the per capita arable land area was only about 0.7 mu.
Israel's territory, combined with the Palestinian territory under de facto control and occupation, is more than 1.5 times that of Beijing Municipality, and Israel's population is less than 43 per cent of Beijing's permanent population. It is such a land of bullets that still lacks all kinds of resources: don't look at the Middle East region where Israel is located, the region with the richest oil and gas resources in the world, but Israel is a rare oil-poor country in the Middle East. Israel not only lacks the rich oil and gas resources of other Middle Eastern countries, but also the most basic resources for survival, such as arable land and fresh water.
It is such a small country with scarce resources, but it is the most industrialized, economically developed country and the highest human development index in the Middle East. Israel, which is highly developed in the economy, also has strong military power. Naturally, Israel's military might cannot be compared with the world-class military powers of the United States, China, and Russia, but Israel is a veritable military power in the Middle East: Israel is one of only nine countries in the world that possess nuclear weapons. In today's international arms market, Israel has become a major arms exporter like the United States, Russia and other countries.
Why is the small country of Israel so arrogant? Israel is a nation with Jews as the dominant ethnic group. Jews have migrated around the world for more than two thousand years. Historically, Europeans have set off wave after wave of persecution of Jews: after the first crusade began in 1096 AD, European society has seen the propaganda that "killing a Jew will save your soul". Between May and July of that year, some 12,000 Jews were killed in the Rhine region alone. Until the first half of the 20th century, Jews in Europe were severely confined to certain areas.
The long period of discrimination and persecution of Jews by Europeans prompted the rise of Zionist thought from the 19th century. The Jews, as a marginalized and persecuted minority, could only be slaughtered by mermaids if they could not maintain internal unity. It is the long history of Jewish persecution that has shaped the cohesion of the Jewish nation. In particular, the Nazi Holocaust of Jews during World War II further strengthened the cohesion within the Jewish nation. It was this cohesion that the Jews were able to successfully restore their country, and it was this cohesion that made their country stronger and stronger.
For more than 70 years since the restoration of The State of Israel, israel has repeatedly clashed and fought wars with a number of Arab countries whose population size and territorial size far exceeded its own. A small Israel can defeat its opponent ten thousand times, but losing once can be a disaster. In addition to external enemies, water, land and food are all serious threats to the survival of the Israelites. The real existential crisis has created a strong sense of distress among Israelis. Only by continuously developing and expanding its economic, military, and scientific research capabilities can Israel win the opportunity for the survival of the nation.
A strong sense of distress and national cohesion are the spiritual foundation on which Israel thrives. Since the restoration of the country in 1948, Israel has established intensive agriculture with intensive farming in a state of narrow arable land, salinized soil and lack of water sources, with a valuable pioneering consciousness and a diligent and pragmatic entrepreneurial spirit. Israel has built world-class agriculture with less than 5 percent of its population using farmers. The sheer number of crops that Israel exports to the European market has led to the designation of the "Kitchen of Europe" by Europeans.
Since the 1960s, Israel's agricultural output has increased fivefold, so it is recognized as one of the most developed agricultural countries in the world, but the total agricultural water use in Israel has been stable at about 1.3 billion cubic meters per year for 30 years. This is a relatively small amount of water consumption among the world's largest agricultural powers. The israelis' ability to build world-class agriculture with limited water resources is inextricably linked to their irrigation technology: all of Israel's agricultural land is equipped with modern irrigation and automatic control technology for sprinkler and drip irrigation.
Israel's agricultural production is a precision agriculture model: through the collection, monitoring, feedback of data in the crop planting area according to the spatial variation positioning, timing, quantitative implementation of modern agricultural operation technology and agricultural management, so as to achieve the same income and even higher income at the lowest cost input. Israeli farmers are proficient with a piece of software that's tailor-made for them — because it tells them: When should I plant? How much water is best to water in times of drought? What kind of temperature and humidity are most suitable for crop growth?
Israel's industrial enterprises are concentrated in the coastal plain between Haifa and Ashdod. Israel's main industrial sectors are: food processing, textile and garment industry, diamond processing industry, military industry, chemical industry and high-tech industry. Among them, the military industry and the high-tech industry represented by computer technology are the most representative examples of Israel's industrial sector. Israel's industrial development and military development are in fact mutually reinforcing: israel has a large number of industrial enterprises that are dual-use.
These enterprises were the backbone of the national economy in peacetime, and in wartime they provided a variety of weapons and equipment for the front line. Israel's military technology has led to the development of civilian industries in the fields of metallurgy, electronics, materials, manufacturing technology, information, biology and other technologies, and these technologies can also be transformed into military technologies in wartime. Israel, a small country with a small projectile, has established a complete system of military and civilian industries: in peace, Israel's industrial technology serves to improve the national economy, and in wartime it becomes the backbone of national defense construction.
Israel has converted the French Mirage fighter into the "Cub" fighter, the British "Captain Hundred" tank into a "chariot" tank, the Soviet "Kalashnikf" submachine gun into a "Galilee" automatic rifle... Israel has also designed and manufactured more than 1,000 weapons of its own, including various types of fighter jets, multi-caliber artillery and required ammunition, conventional bombs, ship-to-ship missiles, giant ships, satellites, communication systems and electronic equipment. Today, Israel occupies almost the same market share as military powers such as the United States and Russia in the international arms sales market.
Israel is a small country of just over 9 million people. Jews make up about 74.4 percent of the population. More than 1 million Haredi fundamentalist Jews in Israel's Jewish population are not allowed to perform military service according to doctrine. As a result, the Jewish population capable of military service was just over 5 million. Women make up about half of these 5 million people, while young adults make up only one-third of the remaining male population. Excluding those who are unfit for military service because of congenital physical illnesses, there are only six or seven hundred thousand adult male Jews in Israel who are suitable for military service.
Let's look at how many people there are in other Middle Eastern countries: Egypt has more than 100 million people, Syria has more than 17 million people, Jordan has 10.83 million people, Saudi Arabia has more than 34.8 million people, Iraq has more than 40 million people, Iran has more than 80 million people... Some of these countries, just young adults fit for service, are catching up with Israel's total population. Israel has adopted a military service system for all: all Jewish men of appropriate age are conscripted into the military at the age of 18, and Jewish women must serve for 2 years as long as they are in good health at the age of 18.
Since 1956, the Druze among Arabs have also been drafted into the army by the Israel Defense Forces, just like the Jews. In wartime, female soldiers are also required to form into combat units. This would increase the number of Israeli troops by fifty percent. From time to time in Israel, israeli female soldiers carrying guns and weapons can be seen walking in the streets. Israel considered that its conflict with Arab countries did not mandate military service for citizens of Arab origin, but allowed its own citizens of Arab descent to perform voluntary military service. It is true that a significant proportion of Israeli Arabs are currently serving in the IDF.
Israel currently has a standing force of 200,000 active duty, in addition to another 500,000 reserve troops under Israel's all-out military service system. Many of Israel's so-called reserve forces are actually made up of veterans with actual combat experience, so Israel in a state of war can pull out an army of 700,000 in a short period of time. Weapons and equipment such as the Israeli Air Force's "Faircom" early warning aircraft and the Israeli Army's "Merkava" tank are sought-after goods on the international arms market. The experience of the five Middle East wars since the founding of the state in 1948 has allowed the Israeli army to accumulate a wealth of practical combat experience.
In November 2021, Israel Aerospace Industries released the "Scorpio" series of new electronic warfare systems that can effectively respond to multiple threats on land, sea and air, and can also implement electronic interference against multiple batches of targets in different directions and at different frequencies at the same time. Israel's Jericho ballistic missiles have a range of up to 5,000 kilometers and can carry nuclear warheads weighing up to 1,300 kilograms. Israel is currently one of only nine nuclear-armed States in the world. Israel's highly developed economic base also provides strong logistical support for military operations.
Israel is the only developed country in the Middle East and one of only four developed countries in Asia. Almost half of Wall Street's large and small companies were created or controlled by Jews. Israel has more than 80 companies listed on the NASDAQ (second only to the United States and Canada in the world). TEVA, the world's largest generic pharmaceutical company, Israel's largest global network security product giant technology company, and the famous defense contractor Elbit Systems are all well-known companies in the world. In fact, it is remarkable that the State of Israel is so small that it can have such a few companies.
But there are still many small and medium-sized companies in Israel that are highly competitive (especially technology companies). In 2016 alone, more than 1,000 innovative technology companies emerged in Israel. This means that on average, 3 new companies are born every day. The Jews have always believed that land will be taken away, wealth will be taken, but knowledge will not be taken. Therefore, Jewish families have always attached great importance to their children's education: they would rather not leave a legacy for their children, but they must let their children receive a high level of education. Israel has the highest average years of schooling and the highest literacy rate in the Middle East.
Along with Japan, Israel ranks with the highest average number of years of education in all of Asia, while ranking 22nd in the world. Seven of the 10 best universities in the Middle East are located in Israel (the top four are Israeli universities). Little Israel has produced 12 Nobel laureates. Back in 1999 there were 145 scientists and engineers per 10,000 Israelis. There are only 85 scientists and engineers per 10,000 people in the United States, more than 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany.
Israel has the highest number of papers published per capita in the world, about 10 times the global average. At present, Israel ranks eleventh in global scientific and technological innovation capabilities and sixteenth in total high-tech exports. 24% of Israel's workforce has a university degree. Israel has the third highest level of education among all industrialized countries after the United States and the Netherlands. Since its restoration in 1948, Israel has absorbed a large number of highly educated and successful Jewish people from all over the world: politicians, entrepreneurs, and scientists.
The arrival of these highly educated and venture-minded high-tech talents has brought great intellectual advantages to Israel's scientific and technological development and economic construction, and the Israeli government has also carried out institutional reforms of its own economy in accordance with the actual situation in a timely manner. Israel also provides funding for its research and development efforts through various forms of multilateral and bilateral cooperation, while also making up for its own shortcomings by borrowing advanced technology and talent from abroad. Since the 1960s, the Israeli government has built a large number of large enterprises on the basis of the original industry.
Since the 1970s, Israel has armed traditional industries with advanced technology on the one hand, and vigorously developed high-tech industries such as precision instruments, computers, aerospace, and biochemicals on the other hand. The development of high-tech industries will also play a role in promoting the development of Israel's traditional industry, agriculture, military and other fields. Israel is a country that attaches great importance to innovation and research and development: 4.5% of Its GDP is spent on the research and development of new technologies, and 30% of this 4.5% is spent on the research and development of products of a military nature. The 4.5% ratio is not large in absolute terms, but in fact it is a fairly high proportion.
Even Germany, which has always been known for its emphasis on technological innovation, spends only about 2% of its GDP on technological innovation research and development. Israel has incubated more than 1,500 high-tech enterprises (an average of 70 to 80 per year) through the cooperation between the government, enterprises and academia. About 60% of these "graduates" are successful in attracting private investment. Intellectual resources are the best resources for Israel, a country that lacks natural resources. Israel attaches great importance to industrial and technological exchanges and cooperation with countries around the world.
Israel has signed scientific cooperation agreements with more than 30 countries and international organizations, including UNESCO, the European Union, the United States, Germany, France, and Italy. More than 150 foreign companies, including Intel, IBM, Microsoft, HP, Yahoo, Google and other internationally renowned companies, have invested in research and development projects in Israel. In 2020, Israel's total economic output of $365.599 billion ranked 35th in the world, and its GDP per capita of $41,560 ranked 19th in the world. Israel ranks 19th in the world economy competitiveness rankings.
Israel's arrogance has external causes in addition to its own factors. First, Israel, as a predominantly Jewish state, received support from Jews from all over the world: the International Jewish Consortium provided financial support to Israel, Jewish intellectuals provided intellectual support to Israel, and ordinary Jewish immigrants provided labor support to Israel. This, combined with the influence of the Jewish consortium in U.S. politics and business circles, and the special relationship between the United States and Israel, has enabled Israel to receive strong external support from the United States.
The day after the establishment of the State of Israel, the first Middle East war with the Arab states broke out. Israel had the support of Jews from all over the world, but it had no time to buy arms or train troops. At the crucial moment, the United States led the countries of the Western world to submit an "application for ceasefire" to the United Nations and vigorously promoted a temporary ceasefire between Afghanistan and Israel at the United Nations Security Council. After a month-long ceasefire, the Arab coalition army found that the combat effectiveness of the Israeli army had risen by more than one notch.
In the successive Wars in the Middle East, Israel has received more or less financial and weapons support from the United States. From 1948 to 2012, the United States used a one-vote veto 42 times on the Un.N. Security Council 42 times to protect Israel. From Israel's restoration in 1948 until 2016, the United States has provided a cumulative total of $124.3 billion in various forms of aid. On September 14, 2016, the United States and Israel also signed a military memorandum of understanding totalling up to $38 billion. Israel is unrivaled in the world in terms of the amount of U.S. aid it receives.
Not only does Israel have the support of Jews from the United States and around the world, but Israel's opponents are really weak. Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon around Israel are weaker than the other: there is no economy, no force, no force. Saudi Arabia is very rich, but unfortunately it is a scum of the war militarily. What really makes Israel jealous is Turkey, Iran, and Egypt, the two Middle Eastern powers, but complex ethnic and sectarian contradictions make it impossible for these opponents to unite against Israel.
The Islamic states surrounding Israel are pitted against each other. This is in stark contrast to unity within Israel. Iraq and Iran lost a total of 530,000 deaths in the Iran-Iraq War, and at least 120,000 civilians were killed in the Syrian civil war, but the Arab coalition killed only 46,000 in the five Middle East wars. What if the Islamic state were to spend its internally drained energy on Israel? In fact, in which war did Israel not take advantage of the differences between several major opponents to achieve a decisive victory in a relatively short period of time?