It seems as though everything is going great for Israel: More than half the country has been vaccinated; workplaces and entertainment venues are opening up; we just signed peace (normalization) treaties with four Arab countries, and more appear to be on the way; and we signed a deal with the UAE that they will invest 10 billion USD in projects in Israel. It seems like we’ve never been better, like nothing can stop us.
This is a dangerous fallacy. Anything can stop us! We don’t realize the type of network of forces that we are in, and we’re celebrating as if there is no tomorrow, when in fact, the slightest movement in these invisible forces can turn things against us.
Additionally, despite the great looking numbers, few people are enjoying the tide. High-tech companies, large corporations, and foreign countries are the main beneficiaries of the boon, but the average person feels very little of it, if any.
Therefore, when I look ahead, I don’t see bonanzas. Just as we went through a health crisis with the coronavirus, we will have to experience crises in society. It is already beginning on the global level, particularly in Europe with the Common Market, but it will also come to Israel.
As a result, we will feel how dependent we are on these unseen natural forces that do not let us manage our economy, our lives, and that we are dependent on the relationships between us for our success. And since the relationships between us are negative, our economy and society are failing. This is a lesson we have yet to learn, very deeply.
Once we learn it, we will understand that a successful economy must rely on solid and positive connections among the members of society. Moreover, the economy must strengthen these connections. In the end, we will redefine economic success and determine that a great economy is one where people enjoy what they have, and enjoy even more the fact that they are in a nation that is cohesive and unified. A country whose economy is successful will feel as though the entire society is one family. After all, what else do we need?
[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein meet Israeli citizen no. 5,000,000 to get the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 8, 2021. Miriam Alster/Pool via REUTERS]