By Mr. Maverick
2025 has been a very choppy year so far. A chain of highly imponderable developments that have happened during the last years have all boiled down to this very day, where randomness has overshadowed every aspect of our lives and behavior. Events are not well-defined. The element of surprise is now officially the only rule of procedure. Change is the only constant, to quote Heraclitus. We’re not here to state, however, the obvious. We are here to focus on an outstanding case of antifragility on the international spectrum: Israel.
No matter how disputable Israel’s policy decisions and overall status are, one thing that remains indisputable is its ability to survive and thrive under severe circumstances – oftentimes, against any conceivable odd. This is not a piece of exaltation. We assess, analyze, and outline things that are now widely perceived as mere facts.
Since its founding in 1948, the country has faced existential threats on multiple fronts – military, political, economic, and environmental. The road has been long and rugged. Since day one, the country has fought multiple wars against many Arab countries, winning all of them, and has faced many intifadas and terrorist attacks. The absorption of massive and diverse migration waves, the lack of natural resources and arid climate, the economic isolation from constant boycotts – all these weren’t just pitfalls here and there. They were actual problems, very difficult to deal with, that created an irremediable condition, rendering survival – let alone progress – almost impossible.
Why and, more importantly, how has Israel managed to flourish so much and so fast, within its short lifespan of 77 years of existence?
Of course, there is a multiplicity of reasons. There is, however, one fundamental reason to rule them all: the instinct of survival – an instinct hard-wired into the Israeli psyche.
The omnipresence of danger combined with a resource-scarce, high-pressure environment, has cultivated a heightened instinct of survival – one that has fueled a self-reinforcing innovation-driven mindset. And this isn’t just anecdotal: science backs it up. In evolutionary biology, the pressure to survive and adapt is widely seen as the mainspring of evolution. Neuroscience and behavioral psychology also support this link. Survival instincts activate brain regions such as the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, which are associated with problem-solving and rapid learning. Moreover, studies show that stress can stimulate innovation and creativity – a phenomenon known as the “challenge response”.
The need to survive, then, is what fuels Israel’s relentless drive to tinker, invent, and challenge – a trait for which the country has become widely known. Survival is not just a backstory; it’s the engine behind some truly staggering achievements, especially given Israel’s small size.
Consider the following statistics:
– #1 globally in startups per capita, with over 9,000 active startups as of 2024 — earning Israel its well-known title, the “Startup Nation.”
– #1 in R&D spending as a share of GDP, investing 5.4%, far above the OECD average.
– Top 10 globally in patents per capita, a testament to the country’s culture of applied innovation.
– #1 in venture capital investment per capita, consistently attracting more VC dollars per citizen than any other nation.
– 2nd only to the U.S. in the number of cybersecurity firms and startups.
– #1 in water recycling, treating and reusing over 90% of its wastewater (Spain, in second place, recycles only ~25%).
– Among the highest PhD rates per capita worldwide.
In short, survival pressure has catalyzed a national mindset where innovation isn’t just encouraged — it’s essential.
These are some remarkable feats, indeed. Israel is a country where nothing is taken for granted – where maintaining the atmosphere of a startup, that insatiable urge to innovate and thrive – isn’t a luxury or an ideal. It’s a pressing, non-negotiable necessity that derives not from solace, but from constant, unforgiving pressure.
“It is survival through success” – as Intel Israel’s Dov Frohman famously puts it. Israel is a place where improvisation is pushed to the nth degree, because they’re building the plane as they fly it. An idea factory, which includes both generating ideas at home, and exploiting ideas generated elsewhere in the world. From agricultural breakthroughs to advanced military and intelligence technologies, improvisation is not just an option; it’s a vital condition of survival.
As we said in the beginning, we can safely say that a new era has dawned – one already being deeply felt across the world. The resounding consolidation of pragmatism and transactional foreign policy now forms the new “grammar” of international relations. In this emerging modus operandi, the absence of motive has become a liability – particularly for many European countries, where prolonged comfort has led to the ossification of what was once the innovative European mind.
With all its problems and profound missteps, Israel has demonstrated one commanding advantage throughout its short existence: a solid sense of purpose. Israelis may not enjoy preposterous affluence or the quiet ease of Danish life. But they possess something affluence often stifles: motive. It’s a mashup of patriotism, a constant awareness of scarcity and adversity, and a deep-rooted curiosity – a restlessness to push forward, to explore, to survive.
Perhaps that’s something other countries could reflect on, and stand to reap the benefits of such a mindset.
