Opinion: Waze founder on why Israel will emerge from this nightmare stronger
Writing for the Jewish News, Uri Levine, co-founder of Waze, says Israel's unbreakable spirit will enable its hi-tech sector to overcome this adversity and how
Saturday 7 October 7 will be remembered as the biggest act of terror that has ever occurred, with more than 1,000 civilians murdered, thousands wounded, and over 200 kidnapped.
To put things into perspective, the US population is about 330 million people. Israel’s population is about 9.5 million.
“If you look at this in proportion to the size of Israel’s population, this is the equivalent of ten 9/11’s. That’s how big and how devastating this attack has been,” U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a press conference in Israel.
The cruelty of the terror massacre was beyond imagination. Children were burnt alive, parents had to watch their children being executed, people were tortured and some bodies were beheaded. Those will remain in our nightmares forever.
The Israeli government, army, and civilians were not ready, and I’m pretty sure that down the road there will be an investigation into how that happened.
Let me reflect that to you. Assume there is a terror attack on U.K. soil that kills more than 6,000 people – what would you do? Because this is exactly what Israel should be, and is, doing right now.
From a personal perspective, many of the young adults who were slaughtered were partying at a music and peace festival. My children are at the ages of 22 to 33. Not a single day passes by without the thought that it could have been my kids. I’m grateful they weren’t there but I know we should support those that were there and either succeeded in escaping or were kidnapped. I am sure this thought concerns many of us, Israelis.
Israel has one huge source of strength – its people. Recent events have highlighted their willingness to help one another, showcasing their resilience and determination.
Right now, the Israeli hi-tech ecosystem, with my startups included, is focusing on helping the survivors and the injured, the soldiers, and civilians that are still under attack, while more than three thousand rockets were and, at the time of writing, are still fired toward the most densely populated areas in Israel.
These next weeks will be hard and challenging in Israel, but later – it will be better. The hi-tech sector will end up stronger than before, thanks to five elements
The Elements That Will Help Israel’s Tech Ecosystem Overcome the War
In general, there are four elements for any startup ecosystem, and the same goes for Israel as a country. Though in Israel there is also a fifth element.
1. Entrepreneurship spirit – this widespread Israeli characteristic relies on a minimal “fear of failure’ culture.
At the end of the day, people will embark on the entrepreneurial journey when their passion is way higher than the combination of fear of failure + alternative cost. If you lower the fear of failure, you will end up with more startups.
2. Investors, in particular international ones, which we are blessed with in Israel.
The current government, with its plans to change the judicial system, has hurt the hi-tech ecosystem. A terror attack won’t, at least not for the long term. We might see a slowdown in the investment flow in the short term, but not in the long run.
3. Engineers – the good news is that Israel has a great number of engineers and very good ones that can, and will, continue to drive the hi-tech ecosystem forward.
4. Experience – a second-time entrepreneur has a much higher chance of being successful, regardless of what happened the first time. There are more and more second/third/fourth/multiple times entrepreneurs in the Israeli ecosystem today than ever before.
These four elements are not unique to Israel, they are the same in San Francisco, Boston, London, and Berlin. But Israel has something rare, the fifth element, the mandatory military service.
The Fifth Element – Mandatory Military Service
Now, everyone understands why this is needed and I would like to quote Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir, 50 years ago, who said: “If they would put down their weapons – there will be no more war. If Israel puts down its weapon – there will be no more Israel.”
This mandatory military service has generated strong, resilient, and better-skilled people where it matters. People with perseverance, in leadership positions, ready to work in teams, and with extreme loyalty.
While acting under pressure like in the recent events, the fifth element becomes much stronger, and the result is that we can expect many, many good years for the Israeli ecosystem. Israel will come out of this crisis stronger.
Many ask me, “How can we help?” It is imperative to help people who were injured or lost their family members or their homes but to save Israel’s strength we should maintain it as a startup nation, and support its entrepreneurs too.
So, yes, beyond any expectations, this is the time to invest in Israeli startups. I believe that in the long run, it will be profitable for the investors.
More than ever, it is the right time to do business with Israeli companies.
I know that the general claim would be, “it is too risky now”, but experience shows that of all wars and crises, the Israeli high-tech ended up stronger.
This is the time that we need your support the most. This is the answer to “How can we help?”
By Uri Levine, co-founder of Waze, author of “Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution – A Handbook for Entrepreneurs”
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