Talk:Economy of Israel

Article text very dated
The text of this article is clearly taken from a 1997-8 source and so its references to current situations and trends is not relevant. It needs a good clean-up.
 * "Two developments have helped to transform Israel's economy since the beginning of the decade."
 * "Until the last decade, Israel's trade with the Arab world..."
 * Which decades are these?24.64.166.191 05:47, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

U.S Financial Aid To Israel: Figures, Facts, and Impact Summary Benefits to Israel of U.S. Aid Since 1949 (As of November 1, 1997)

Foreign Aid Grants and Loans $74,157,600,000

Other U.S. Aid (12.2% of Foreign Aid) $9,047,227,200

Interest to Israel from Advanced Payments $1,650,000,000

Grand Total $84,854,827,200

Total Benefits per Israeli $14,630 Cost to U.S. Taxpayers of U.S. Aid to Israel

Grand Total $84,854,827,200

Interest Costs Borne by U.S. $49,936,680,000

Total Cost to U.S. Taxpayers $134,791,507,200

Total Taxpayer Cost per Israeli $23,240

Special Reports:

POV statement
"Israel's strong commitment to economic development and its talented work force led to economic growth rates during the nation's first two decades that frequently exceeded 10% annually." My comment: how can we say "talented work force"? Compared to who? References? I get associations to "Ubermench" here. Ugh. I suggest we delete "and its talented work force".

Also: Should there not, in all fairness (when mentioning the high growth rate in this period), be a reference to the compensations payed to Israel from Germany in this period? Huldra 19:20, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

Yes, but that compensation from Germany was not charity. Is was owed to a substantial percantage of Israelis who had assets stolen during WWII.

Israel has the highest percentage of engineers and physicians per 1000 people in the world, Israel has the most patents per 1,000 people in the world. Do you need anymore confirmation? Just google it and you'll see.


 * Yes, but this has to do with the population being EDUCATED, not "talented". "Talented workforce" is a nonsensical term that reeks of fascism. IDiO (talk) 01:25, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * I'm with IDIO on this. As an engineer, I do not consider my engineering a "talent."  "Educated" is a much more accurate term for the Israeli workforce.  Also, how much of the growth rate in the first 2 decades was due to population growth, and how much to per capita economic growth?  Regards.  Plazak (talk) 11:41, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

"With such an impressive track record for creating profit driven technologies, Israel has become the first choice for many of world's leading entrepreneurs, investors, and industry giants" This reads like a venture capitalist pitch, not a Wikipedia article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Friend-of-the-planet-99 (talk • contribs) 14:12, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

US aid to Israel
Unbelievably, there is not a single reference to the total US economic support to Israel. The last numbers I saw, (from 2001) was UD$ 2800 mil. For 1 year. And that is not an unusual year: 2-3 billion US$ pr. year has been the average these last few years, as far as I know. That´s serious money, in my world! Still: nowhere, absolutely nowhere (as far as I can see) under ANY of the articles about Israel (in Wikipedia) is this total mentioned!! Incredible. (If I´m wrong, and I´ve missed the information somewhere in an article about Israel on wikipedia, please inform me, and I´ll gladly retract my words.) (Yes, I see that the article says: "Economic aid - recipient: $662 million from US (2003 est.)" ...but that is without the greatest part of the aid! (-namely the military aid), as far as I can see.)

And when one user had included some statistics on this aid a short time ago (admittedly, not all very relevant), then another user:Humus sapiens deletes it all with the (POV) comment "crap"!

A couple of billion dollar every year cannot be ignored! If such basic facts are sensored out from Wikipedia, then Wikipedia becomes absolutely useless and meaningless as an informationsource on the Middle East. Btw, where I live (in Scandinavia) broadcasters on the state media (who are payed to be NPOV) routinely term the US as "the paymasters of Israel". Nobody (to my knowledge) has objected; it is accepted as a matter of fact. Which is a crying shame since "paymasters" is a completely inaccurate framing of the relationship. Scandinavian media are NOT NPOV, so thanks for proving the point.Kimwell (talk) 17:00, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

Sooooo: I propose: either we get these facts into this article, or: we create a new article, named, say: US aid to Israel. Actually, the subject is so large that perhaps it should be a separate article...inf. I would like to see is: when did economic support really start "big-time"? (wasn´t it in the 60´s?) ..a histogram/graph showing how the amounts of aid has developed over the years could be informative. Also: how much to the military, how much to civil use?

Anyway, as this article stands now it is a disgrace to Wikipedia. IMO. Huldra 19:20, 26 September 2005 (UTC) PS: and nooooo: I´m not proposing an article with the name: US: the paymasters of Israel. Thought I should make that clear :-D


 * Huldra, I agree: foreign aid on the order of 2-3% of GDP per year warrants mentioning.  There should probably also be a separate article on US aid to Israel (or at least the US-Israeli relationship), because it does constitute approximately a third of all US foreign aid, and this for a nation of just 6.5 million.  Marsden 19:35, 26 September 2005 (UTC)


 * ...yes, and that for a nation which in no way is among the poorest in the world. The US-Israel relationship/aid is certainly also an important project. However, I think one should start with  one article, and I suggest the US: the paymasters of Isr.. oooooopsh, I mean: the US aid to Israel-article. 8-> Do you have any good references? Easily available? Huldra 22:56, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

Don't let Humus put you off. The only place he gets neutral is the transmission of his car. I think the way to proceed would be to write a more up-to-date section on US aid to Israel, clearly an important part of the Israeli economy, and then break it out into another article if it gets too long. Don't fill it full of bumph though. Just clear, straight facts. If Humus reverts it, RfC it. If he gets support in an RfC, it's time to leave Wikipedia to the Zionists, because let's face it, if you are willing to suppress facts such as a $3 billion subsidy, we're just another hasbara organisation.

I note also that "aircraft parts and other defense equipment" is an interesting way of stating what Israel imports from the US. The CIA factbook is rather more blunt. It says "military equipment". Grace Note 01:31, 27 September 2005 (UTC)


 * There is an over-arching problem on Wiki of what I'll call the "Hasbara Mafia," who team up to perpetrate the fraud that the Israeli government (or sometimes even the Netanyahu branch of Likud ...) position on matters concerning Israel is the NPOV. We've all seen it.  They can generally muster about five people to participate in an edit war, so I don't think there's much point in trying to do anything directly to oppose them unless similar numbers can be found to support it.


 * A lot of what the Hasbara Mafia does is actually positive, and certainly their positions should be noted within articles. What really bothers me is that they have sometimes -- as in this article -- thoroughly censored information that they don't like, and in other cases (see Occupied territories) they have hijacked articles so as to avoid the use of terms that they don't like.


 * What I'd like to see would be for the Hasbara Mafia to stop relying so heavily on winning editting wars: from what I have seen, when they are confident they can win an edit war with their prefered position, that is what they will do; when they are less confident, they'll stall and try to outlast their opponents; and when they see they have little chance, they can be quite reasonable.  In an enterprise like Wikipedia, it is naturally very easy for an interested minority to take control of areas in which there is no coherent opposition, and that, in my opinion, is what has happened here.  A coherent opposition needs to be formed.


 * Marsden 16:18, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

Well, I will not comment on the "Hasbara Mafia," (frankly, I´m unfamiliar with the name), but I can tell you this: my reason for interest in this field is the following: in 2001 I travelled in the Middle East (not Israel) for several months -(visiting historical sites etc). Now, what stunned me & suprised me most during these months was the low opinion of local people towards the US (of course, they had an even lower opinion of Israel, but that was a more well-known/expected attitude.....). Again & again & again I met people who expressed an intense hatred of the US. Why? Always the same answer: because of US support for Israel. (And I´m not talking moral support here: no, I´m talking cash, $, money.) And these were relatively well-educated people (spoke English, for a start!). When I returned to Scandinavia (=home) I started reading more about modern history of the region, and understood more. Then came 9/11, & I´m sad to say: I was´t very suprised. (Now I always laugh (laud!) when I hear Bush et al. claim that the US was/is attacked because "people hate our freedom and democracy". I have never met a single person who hate the US because its "freedom and democracy". Not a single one. Actually, people in the Middle East don´t give a damn (mostly) about the internal policies of the US, (just like the people in US don´t give a damn (mostly) about internal policies in the Middle East.)) At the same time: people I met in the Middle East also expressed wildly different opinion about these matters: some seem to think that 90% of Israels income came from the US(!) (no, I´m not joking!). Then imagine my suprise when, browsing Wikipedia, I do not find a single reference to what so many people consider the most important issue regarding the US & the West & Israel! Not only that; I find that references to this is "edited" (read: censored) out with comments like "crap"! Well, I think we are all loosers here. Actually, I suspect Israel/US will (possibly) be the biggest loosers in the end: when real information is not found easily, a lot of false information will thrive and blossom instead. What I propose is this: instead of meddeling (too much) with this article: lets have a general statement like: "Israel also recieves substantial aid from the US." Let us link this this statement to the n ew article. Let us then get all facts, figures /years into this article AND: the sources! Very, very important. We have to document every single number. (Actually, I´m always very "ad fontes" when I edit articles...it is in "discussion"-pages I´m "huldra"! :-)). Anyway, let us start as a "stub", and expand it. How about it? PS: and if people who like to think that Israel manages on its "talented work force" alone deletes such an article; well, I think it will be worst for them, It will only mean that there are people in Egypt, Jordan, Syria etc.+ some in the West who will continue to believe that Israel gets 90% of its income from the US, even after they have consulted Wikipedia.... Sigh. Huldra 21:50, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

CERTAIN people want to single Israel out. Truth is that a lot of countries have benefited from US taxpayers more than Israel. Jordan and Egypt each receive more US aid (economic and military) than Israel does (%of GDP). you can put a "US AID TO ...." section for a substantial amount of countries. The Marshall Plan, South Korean, the Mexican bailout, aid to Egypt and Jordan, etc.

And this garbage about Israelis get 90% of income from US. It sounds more like someone made up the number. What is that even based on? It doesn't even make any sense. Why does Israel have $18 billion in FDI this year (foreign direct investment-for those less than intelligent wanna be "Palestine is great, Israel sucks" economists)? why does Warren Buffet make his only major foreign acquisition in Israel? Why does Israel have the most companies on the Nasdaq (outside of US)? Why does Israel in the top 5 every year in patents? Why does Donald Trump build skyscrapers in Ramat Gan? Why is Israel growing at 5% a year (in a war year) when Portugal has a growth rate of 0% (from ECB).

Another fact: Israel is the largest purchaser of American products in the world (per capita)

Lets get this straight once and for: Israel gets $2.4 billion in Military aid, which can ONLY be spent in the US. Which is why Boeing and Lockheed Martin are very much in favor for Israel getting aid. This also adds income and jobs in these industries, AND the US gov't gets 35% back in taxes. SO BOTH SIDES MAKE OUT WELL. Israel gets $600 million for "economic aid", but in reality this money is used to pay back loans Israel made from American banks in the 1970's - although this is peanuts compared to the $58 billion that the US gave South Korea in 1998 and the untold billions the US gave Mexico for a bailou, all at US taxpayer expense.

I will put some facts into this part of the article.

Sources:

U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel - CRS Report for the Congress

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf

Israel: Background and Relations with the United States - CRS Report for the Congress

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33476.pdf

Bpgergo (talk) 00:02, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

I've reverted you addition, due to the mixing of civilian and military aid. The civilian aid is direct aid to the economy, basically cash money. The military aid can only be used for purchases in the US, effectively subsidizing the US economy (see above). I have no objection to mentioning the military aid as well, but I don't want the two types to be mixed up this way. okedem (talk) 07:01, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

substantial government ownership
"Israel has a diversified modern economy with substantial government ownership". I want to insert the information that most of the land is government owned and rented only to jews.24.64.166.191 05:21, 22 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Whatever you add: make absolutely sure that you have a source for it, and then give the ref. to that source. Regards, Huldra


 * I'm all in favour of sources.
 * "Ninety-three percent of the land in Israel is owned or controlled by the government, the Israel Lands Authority, or the Jewish National Fund. Some 2.8 percent is privately owned by Jews and 4.2 percent by Arabs. Rarely is public land leased to Arabs."
 * "Farming remains a major endeavor for Israeli Arabs who work on privately-owned land. They are allocated 2.3 percent of the water quotas ... . In contrast, Jews are allocated state-owned land if required and receive over 97 percent of the water quotas"
 * Gerald B. Bubis

its not true.. most of land is in the hand of the Israel Lands Authority, the sell the land for anyone.. of course arabs allso.. some precenteg is of the Jewish National Fund.. but after a supreme Court case they allso sell to evrybody.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nadave (talk • contribs) 11:41, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

GDP
The GDP table (even if sourced) is blatantly wrong. A GDP of 1 million NIS in 1965 would imply that each person generated about 40 agorot per year (I know the currency has changed since then, but the broad point remains). I'll look for a more credible alternative... Pontificake 18:23, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Good, good. I'm not sure what the base price is, but the table at the source seems to forget to take into account inflation, leading to ridicules thing like 395% growth in GDP in 1984 - which was a horrible year, with 400% inflation. It's like they took today's money, and tried to list all of the previous years' GDP in today's Shekels, only by inflation, and not by actual worth (currency was exchanged for rates like 1:1000 at times), thus mucking everything up. I couldn't find another source, but it says that "While the GDP per capita was only 30% of what it was in the United States in 1948; today it stands at 65% of the American level." (this is at 1998, Israel's jubilee). okedem 19:57, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

http://www1.cbs.gov.il/shnaton57/st14_01x.pdf seems to have various useful data series. What's best to use - per capita (very relevant given the population growth), total in real terms, total in NIS terms, total in dollar terms? We could, of course, use more than one. Pontificake 20:35, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Oh, the CBS. Why didn't I think of that? I tried to find data in the Bank of Israel website, but got nowhere. Well, the problem with NIS terms remains, it's quite meaningless. I also don't really understand how the two tables - of total GDP, and per capita GDP, can coexist - they don't add up. I don't understand what they mean by "At current prices" on the total GDP, and why, when that one looks ridicules, the per capita table (at 1995 prices) seems reasonable. I think the per capita is the most relevant, but we could use all of them, though I wouldn't bother writing something as silly as the entire Israeli nation has a GDP of 47,000 NIS in 1950... okedem 21:09, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Lead-in - GDP and 500 million by Germany
1. Has anybody a link to the German annual payments. As far as I know there are compensation payments, but not to the State of Israel nor in the amount stated in the lead-in.

2. The GDP comparison with European countries is misleading. The only countries that have a lower GDP per capita in "Western Europe" are Greece and Portugal. Spain has a higher GDP per capita. Themanwithoutapast 19:15, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

Net Foreign Transfers
Dfalao I think that you are giving the wrong link or that you are confusing a few things. The link that you give is about the Net Balance of Payments of Israel, it mainly deals with the foreign trade balance and not the US military aid. Israel is now receiving a $3 billions US military aid (not economic aid) for the next 10 years. I personally think this is a huge mistake but that's not the issue. I do not know how much Israel receives from other sources like private Jewish donators, but anyway you need to separate the money that goes to the Israeli budget (if any) from what is given to private institutions. Benjil 09:41, 5 August 2007 (UTC)


 * The figure I gave was net transfers, which is not part of the balance of trade, but is part of the current account, which in turn is a part of the balance of payments. Transfer payments are unilateral transfers included in the current account, e.g., gifts and support payments. The figure includes military aid, or indeed any other unilateral transfers. It would appear that you are not familiar with balance of payment statistics. The total net transfers to the government amounted to $4.4 billion in 2006, while net current transfers to the rest of the economy were $3.0 billion, for a total of 7.4 billion US dollars.


 * The information and figures I gave were accurate and relevant. As it stands, it appears Israel receives only 0.12 billion, which is completely misleading. Too bad you chose to censure the relevant information.


 * Further information, for the interested: http://www.cbs.gov.il/hodaot2007n/09_07_045e.pdf http://www.bankisrael.gov.il/deptdata/mehkar/indic/eng_c09.htm http://www.bankisrael.gov.il/deptdata/pik_mth/ex_debt/define.htm


 * Dfalao 15:49, 5 August 2007 (UTC)


 * So let's do that again: the Bank of Israel link does not say what you say. The data you quote is from the CBS link and it also does not say exactly the same thing because $3 billions out of the $7.4 go to the private sector. So the aid that Israel received was, according to this, $4.4 billions, an increase of $1.4 billion from $3 billion of military aid in 2005, probably the special aid after the war or something like that. If someone knows the details, he is welcome to give more explanations. 07:32, 6 August 2007 (UTC)


 * I specifically say above "The total net transfers to the government amounted to $4.4 billion in 2006, while net current transfers to the rest of the economy were $3.0 billion, for a total of 7.4 billion US dollars." The Bank of Israel doesn't split the sum into different sectors of the economy like the CBS, but reaches the same grand total. Thus, 7.4 billion was the net transfers to Israel in 2006, which is a significant sum. It is certainly worth reporting, for anyone who wants NPOV articles in Wikipedia. Dfalao 16:28, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

German aid to Israel
Aside from the complete misrepresentaion of the scale of US aid, why is there no mention of the massive amount of German aid?

KBuck


 * Because Israel doesn't receive aid from Germany. It did, a long time ago (up till 1965), but even then it wasn't "massive" (but lets not debate semantics). okedem 16:54, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

That's funny because according to everyone else eg

http://www.wrmea.com/html/us_aid_to_israel.htm

" But there also has been extensive German military assistance to Israel during and since the Gulf war, and a variety of German educational and research grants go to Israeli institutions. The total of German assistance in all of these categories to the Israeli government, Israeli individuals and Israeli private institutions has been some $31 billion or $5,345 per capita, bringing the per capita total of U.S. and German assistance combined to almost $20,000 per Israeli"

For some reason this page isn't prepared to mention either the proper scale of US aid or German aid at all. What's the problem?

KBuck
 * You're mixing very different things here. The bulk of the assistance was in the form of reparations given to the Israeli government from 1953 to 1965. 1965, mind you, was 42 years ago.
 * The other major part is money given directly to holocaust survivors - this is not "German aid to Israel", but given directly to the survivors, and thus is not mentioned here.
 * Other major assistance - German shipyards built 3 submarines for Israel, which only had to pay for one, and the German government financed the other two - this is direct military assistance, and has nothing to do with the economy.
 * Research grants? That's peanuts, and not worthy of mention. Aid in this form has negligible impact of the economy.
 * Just to give some scale - your link says the sum total of Germany's aid, in all these forms (some of which irrelevant to this article), was $31 billion. Israel's budget for the year 2008 will be around $70 billion, and its GDP for 2006 was $135 billion. So while German aid was useful, most of it was a long time ago, and even then it wasn't what kept Israel going. What is relevant today is not in the form of economic assistance, and thus isn't mentioned. okedem 13:47, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

That's funny... I've never heard anyone saying military aid and expenditure is nothing to do with the economy before... everyone else seems to think its a part of the economy. The aid given to Israel - from the US/Germany/Jews abroad is all part of the economy. To claim otherwise is ridiculous. As is your attempt to paint $5,345 per capita - money which in large part built Israel's infrastructure, as a small sum. As is giving the impression that the only aid Israel gets from the US is the relatively small sum labelled economic rather than the $billions of military aid every year. A completely misleading piece of propoganda.

KBuck


 * I demand you take back your accusations, and apologize for them.
 * I only wrote about aid from Germany. I haven't said a word about US aid, not civilian, nor military. Whatever you thought I said, is your problem. Don't attack me for things you imagined, and throw around words like "propaganda" if you want to be taken seriously.
 * Giving a submarine as a gift isn't economic aid, in that it has no economic impact, and is not a part of the budget. It's military aid. It's not military budgets, to be spent rather freely, as the US gives (although it can only be used for American equipment). Even if you do include it, it's not worth that much, relatively.
 * I gave the numbers for scale. I say again, for the last time - the major economic aid was given over 40 years ago, and what is given today is given to individuals, and has relatively little impact. okedem 14:42, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

What accusations - "Propoganda" was a reference to the impression given in the article that US aid is small "120 million, or about 0.07% of Israel's GDP." Totally misleading. As for your odd position that military aid isn't economic - even Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer says exactly the opposite in todays announcement of $30 billion from the US for Israel over the next 10 years.

"We have an exceptionally heavy defence burden... The fact that the United States is willing to share a significant part of that burden ... is a critical element in the budget."

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/56F1803E-796B-4ACD-A9E3-0F03338F46D6.htm

KBuck


 * Your quote doesn't support your claim. And if you don't want to be perceived as attacking people, try phrasing your sentences better. okedem 16:03, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * The article said that yearly US economic aid to Israel is $120 million - and this is already wrong. It is 0. But it is true that the article does not include the $2.4 billion and from next year $3 billion military aid. So I propose to add it. But we need to explain that it hurts the Israeli economy as much as it helps it, that this is mainly a US subsides for its military industry, and that NATO countries get lower prices when they buy US weapons, while Israel pays the full price - so this is just the way to do the same thing. Benjil 06:55, 17 August 2007 (UTC)
 * It's just outdated. The economic aid has been decreasing year by year. I support your suggestion. okedem 10:00, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Misinterpretation of the Balance of Payments
Article previously stated that Israel receved 7.4 bil$ from US. This give an impression that US gave the money, wile this in reality is a trade surplus. To whoever added this in the first place: please be carefull to understand the sources before adding them to WP. -- H eptor  talk 02:14, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:1 New Israeli Sheqel (1994-1995).jpg
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BetacommandBot (talk) 18:59, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:1 New Israeli Sheqel (1994-1995).jpg
Image:1 New Israeli Sheqel (1994-1995).jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 06:50, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:1 New Israeli Sheqel (1994-1995).jpg
Image:1 New Israeli Sheqel (1994-1995).jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 05:46, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

External Trade
2006 the volume was 4,9 Mrd. US$. Being 8,26 % (3,2 Mrd. US$) of Israels Imports and 5,58 % (1,7 Mrd. US$) of Israels Exports. 

Might be good to mention not only the US ex and import but the first two or three partners.--Stone (talk) 14:02, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Self congratulatory text
The third paragraph sounds a bit over the top. 217.132.28.149 (talk) 22:32, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

EU israel tax problems
Will EU Penalize Exports from Israeli Settlements? is article about the problematic practice that stuff produced in the israel seatlements is exported to the EU, but the tax free agrement is only valide for israel, but not for palestina, the occupied terretories, Gazza or the Westbank or what the ares are called.--Stone (talk) 18:07, 5 September 2009 (UTC)

Unemployment rate?
What is the unemployment rate in israel? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.11.113.192 (talk) 04:43, 26 July 2010 (UTC)
 * 5.8% (April 2011) Hmbr (talk) 22:45, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

Issues
Apart from needing a copy-edit, it does in many places read like an advertisement or brochure. There needs to be more neutral, even critical, info on the economy; I can think of one problem it faces already, and I'm not even an expert.

The "Income" table is weird: compares loads of apples and oranges: different criteria in the same columns, different years, clutter of local currencies. I think it needs to go completely and be replaced by a short para. Tony  (talk)  02:14, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
 * More, on revisiting ... the Income section is a shocker. Out of date, messy, inconsistent categories (why US states? NZ is surely overstated, etc.) Ungrammatical language. Needs expansion. I think the table needs to go completely or be rethought. Anyone willing to help? Tony   (talk)  03:39, 8 September 2011 (UTC)

Metric units
I have noticed that there are non-metric units creeping into the text (such as the information on natural gas reserves). As Israel exclusively uses the metric system, this article needs to be cleaned up to ensure that only metric units are used. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.94.113.241 (talk) 01:07, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

userpage 21:56, 14 May 2021 (UTC)
 * What's the harm of including some other units of measurement in parentheses?  TheKuygerian  contribs

2004 Congressional Research Service report
The 2004 the U.S. Congressional Research Service report has historical significance is no longer relevant and thus should not be in the very first paragraph of the article. Moving to history section. Below are three important points as to why the 8-year old report is no longer relevant.

US Aid to Israel: Makeup and constituent share of current economy

The US no longer provides Israel with economic aid. In 2012, the US will provide Israel with approximately $3 billion worth of military aid and about $0.6 billion in support of joint weapon development activities. Note that most of this aid cannot be spent in the Israeli economy, rather in the US to purchase US-made products. Also, Israel has not taken out any loans using loan guarantees provided by the US since at least the middle of the last decade.

In 2012, Israel is expected to have a GDP of approximately $250 billion. $3.6 billion would be about 1.5% of gross domestic product. Nowadays, one cannot reasonably argue that aid making up only 1.5% of GDP makes the Israeli economy wholly reliant on US aid as the report suggest.

The relative performance the Israeli economy compared to the economic performance of other high-income, western developed countries since the report was written.

Since the report came out, the world has experienced a devastating financial crisis. This crisis has shown which countries have solid economic fundamentals and which have economies resting on shaky economic legs. Or as they say, when the tide goes out, you can see which swimmers have been swimming naked and which had swimsuits underneath. In almost every conceivable economic parameter the Israeli economy has far outperformed those of other countries during the crisis. Certainly if the Israeli economy was as fragile and "unsustainable" as the report claims, the outcome for the Israeli economy would have been completely different and it wasn't.

Current budget deficit

The report also claims that the Israeli economy relies heavily on borrowing to survive. Israel's budget deficit in recent years has been under 3% of GDP, thus requiring very low borrowing, and well below that of other western countries. Again, the report is detached from current reality.

Given these reasons, it makes more sense to reference the report in an historical context rather than in a section which implies the report has current relevancy to the Israeli economy. I made this change.

Wikiliki (talk) 02:20, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

userpage 21:41, 14 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Talk with the people in Talk:Economy_of_Israel.  TheKuygerian  contribs

External link to tariff data
Hello everyone, I am working for the International Trade Centre (ITC), a UN/WTO agency that aims to promote sustainable economic development through trade promotion. I would like to propose the addition of an external link (http://www.macmap.org/QuickSearch/FindTariff/FindTariff.aspx?subsite=open_access&country=SCC376%7cIsrael&source=1|ITC) that leads directly to our online database of customs tariffs applied by Israel. Visitors can easily look up market access information for Israel by selecting the product and partner of their interest. I would like you to consider this link under the WP:ELYES #3 prescriptions. Moreover, the reliability and the pertinence of this link can be supported by the following facts 1) ITC is part of the United Nations, and aims to share trade and market access data on by country and product as a global public good 2) No registration is required to access this information 3) Market access data (Tariffs and non-tariff measures) are regularly updated

Thank you, Divoc (talk) 09:50, 17 October 2014 (UTC)

Lack of information on everyday life
This article contains nothing whatsoever about the sector of the economy - the service industries - which are actually most important in the everyday lives of Israelis. Nothing is mentioned about the supermarkets popular shopping chains or everyday purchasing habits of Israelis. Instead the information, taken largely from official reports, is precisely of the kind which can be looked up anywhere and has very little relevance to everyday life in the country. Can someone who knows more about the subject please do something to help remedy this.

Many Thanks, Chris

Noticed that some language and grammer is a bit off. Might need to be fixed. mostly in the history area. sorry too busy to fix myself — Preceding unsigned comment added by 103.240.52.25 (talk) 04:20, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

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lack of talk of stolen U.S. trade secrets through espionage
Israel has had the largest number of spies in America of any other foreign country, including the USSR. Much of these were military secrets, including their atom bomb project, their aerospace and military industries. Often this tech is then sold or derived, Israeli made products old to rogue states--e.g., Pakistan and China, particularly China's front-line J9 figher, which was based on the Israeli Lavi, itself built with U.S. aid, both overt and covertly stolen.

Additionally, the spy-network as integrated federal agencies, as synergy with AIPAC, ADL and other Israeli/Zionist organizations.

Of course, the new, post-people powered wiki will likely delete this. Given the backgrounds of the CEO and moderators, it's not surprising this is the only locked country page, at least I am aware of. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.24.205.198 (talk) 04:12, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 14:56, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Israel Product Exports (2019).svg

New section?
I've published a new page on Israeli conomy - Israeli cybersecurity industry, maybe it will be good to use some parts in this article. JorienBye (talk) 13:26, 12 April 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 10 September 2023
Request to add Corruption in Israel under the section Economy of Israel. 223.25.74.34 (talk) 14:30, 10 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done for now: Per WP:SEEALSO, links in the section should be limited in number and the list is already longer than most such sections. If consensus is in favor of the addition, then I personally have no objection. DrKay (talk) 15:42, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

Accessibility issues
As noted, the file you're adding presents significant accessibility issues. Specifically:


 * It includes text below 85% of default size (MOS:SMALL)


 * It uses colour to communicate important information, and has insufficient contrast between text and background colour (MOS:COLOUR)


 * It uses an image in the place of a properly formatted chart (MOS:ACCIM) or text (MOS:TEXTASIMAGES)

In addition to all of these issues, it simply does a poor job of conveying information since once you get past the largest boxes much of the text is cut off or missing entirely. This is because at its source it is designed as an interactive image (where if you hover you can see additional information) but here is static and therefore unusable. Nikkimaria (talk) 13:23, 2 October 2023 (UTC)

Many articles saying economy is shrinking but article says it's growing?
Example: https://www.ft.com/content/763bb384-a974-4222-996f-8aecfbc32074 202.47.36.141 (talk) 14:03, 16 April 2024 (UTC)

Technical: CIA ref issue
There is a perfectly well written ref with the ref name CIA. In spite of it, the Ref list ends with a screaming-red error announcement:
 * "Cite error: A list-defined reference with the name "CIA" has been invoked, but is not defined in the tag (see the help page)."

WTF? Arminden (talk) 09:35, 9 July 2024 (UTC)