It may look like Israel is losing the international battle for legitimacy. In December, the UN Security Council condemned settlement building in the West Bank, and even Israel’s closest ally in Washington abstained. In January, 70 countries met in Paris to press the country to accept a two-state solution with Palestine. Israel considers Jerusalem its capital city, but no nation will put its embassy there. Divestment and boycott movements are a constant niggle.
The reality is that Israel, whose tough and controversial prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to Australia this week, is swimming with the tide of change in the world, not against it.
Israelis have created the second-most important incubator – a Silicon Wadi – of the new technologies that the world wants in spades and pours its money into. Israel leads in new wireless technology, and it now sells more cyber-security systems than conventional arms. Its water management and agricultural expertise is equally famous.
Read the editorial in the Australian Financial Review.