The Israeli Economy from the Foundation of the State through the 21st Century

This book analyzes the development of the Israeli economy in its historical context. It shows how the ideology of the dominant group in the Zionist movement led to the development of agriculture, thus meeting the preconditions for successful industrialization. Remarkable, if uneven, growth has taken place, with increasing allocations for defense. Regional isolation led to the emphasis on high-quality exports for developed markets that has stimulated the technological base. Israel has benefited from mass immigration and increased access to foreign capital, factors that have transformed the economy. The book includes chapters on the development of the Jewish community in Palestine during the British Mandate; macroeconomic developments and economic policy; globalization and high technology; defense; the economics of the Arab minority; Israeli settlements and relations with the Palestinians; and the role of religion. It concludes with an examination of the socioeconomic divisions that have widened as the economy has grown.

Paul Rivlin is the Sandra Glass Senior Fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle East and African Studies at Tel Aviv University. He is the author of four other books: The Dynamics of Economic Policy Making in Egypt (1985), The Israeli Economy (1992), Economic Policy and Performance in the Arab World (2001), and Arab Economies in the Twenty-First Century (2009), as well as numerous monographs, papers, contributed chapters, articles, and reports on economic development in the Middle East and on international energy markets, defense, and trade economics. Educated at Cambridge, Harvard, and London universities, he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses on Middle East economics at Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and London University, and he has been a visiting professor of economics at Emory University. He has lectured in the United States, China, Canada, Egypt, India, Japan, Turkey, and Europe.