An Interesting Comparison of Israel and Sydney
If you can imagine the area from Wollongong to the Queensland border and from the sea to the top of the Blue Mountains, you have the approximate size of Israel. In NSW we have four million people in this are, but Israel has closer to eight million.
We are aware that Hezbollah has fired 13,000 high explosive missiles into Israel from the hills of southern Lebanon, each one is capable of destroying a block of apartments or a series of factories. This would be like an enemy firing missiles from Katoomba upon the Sydney CBD.
I have written at length on Israel’s historical, political and religious significance but this populous but small country has an amazing record of contemporary development.
For example the Middle East has been growing date palms for centuries. The average tree is about 18-20 feet tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year. Today Israeli date trees are now yielding 400 pounds/year and are short enough to be harvested from the ground or a short ladder. Israel, the world’s 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world’s population, but can lay claim to the following:
The mobile cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development centre in Israel. Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel. The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel. Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel. The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel. Voice mail technology was developed in Israel. Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.
Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the US, Russia and China). In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel’s air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16s. This is the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the US. Israel’s $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbours combined.
Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to its population in the world. Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation. In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. It has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world outside of the Silicon Valley – 3,500 in total.
Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.
Twenty-four per cent of Israel’s workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialised world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees. Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.
In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at risk in Ethiopia to safety in Israel. Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity.
Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.
Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the USA, over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its workforce employed in technical professions, Israel is first in this category as well.
All the above has been achieved while Israel has been engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth.
Compared with our similar size, it is a remarkable achievement.
GORDON MOYES
November 10th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
Thanks for this uncompromised information about Israel. It is good to read/hear accurate reporting of this nature, as there appears to be some sort of ‘blockage’ of any information even remotely positive about the return of the people to the land promised to Abraham. It is also useful to note that its population is 20% ethnically Arabic/Palestinian, and that they not only live in freedom of worship, and freedom from persecution there, but have a significantly higher standard of living than most rank-and-file citizens in surrounding countries.
Whilst recognising that modern Israel is not perfect, what you have pointed out about her shows what could be done when the people are united in vision, prepared to work (and die if need be) for the prosperity and safety of the country and the up-coming generations – It has been pointed out that many Christians in China are praying for persecution to happen in the West as an agent of refining, and that such pruning has produced such abundant natural fruit in Israel under the circumstances you have described may bring the hope that a ‘spiritual’ prosperity may return to the church.
God bless you for your stand.
Regards,
Ps Mark & Ro Callaghan,
Supporters, Casino 2470