Israel Discovers Oil
NCfan
Posts: 945
Thomas Friedman
BEERSHEBA, Israel
Lucien Bronicki is one of Israel’s foremost experts in geothermal power, but when I ran into him last week at Ben Gurion University, in Israel’s Negev Desert, all he wanted to talk about was oil wells. Israel, he told me, had discovered oil.
Pointing to a room full of young Israeli high-tech college seniors, Mr. Bronicki remarked: “These are our oil wells.”
It was quite a scene. Once a year Ben Gurion students in biomedical engineering, software, electrical engineering and computing create elaborate displays of their senior projects or — as in the case of a student-made robot that sidled up to me — demonstrate devices they’ve invented.
On this occasion, Yossi Vardi, the godfather of Israeli venture capitalism — ever since he backed the four young Israelis who invented the first Internetwide instant messaging system, Mirabilis, which was sold to AOL for $400 million in 1998 — brought some of his venture capital pals, like Mr. Bronicki, down to Ben Gurion to scout out potential start-ups and to mentor the grads.
The first student exhibit I visited was by Yuval Sharoni, 26, an electrical engineering senior, whose project was titled an “Innovative Covariance Matrix for Point Target Detection in Hyperspectral Images” (which has to do with military targeting). When I told him I was from The Times, he declared: “This project is going to make the front page, I’m telling you.” The cover of Popular Mechanics, maybe, but it could one day make the Nasdaq, where Israel now has the most companies listed of any nation outside of the United States.
“Today, every Israeli Jewish mother wants her son to be a dropout and go create a start-up,” said Mr. Vardi, who is currently invested in 38 different ones.
Which gets to the point of this column: If you want to know why Israel’s stock market and car sales are at record highs — while Israel’s government is paralyzed by scandals and war with Hamas and doesn’t even have a finance minister — it’s because of this ecosystem of young innovators and venture capitalists. Last year, VCs poured about $1.4 billion into Israeli start-ups, which puts Israel in a league with India and China.
Israel is Exhibit A of an economic phenomenon I see a lot these days. Of course, competition between countries and between companies still matters. But when the world becomes this flat — with so many distributed tools of innovation and connectivity empowering individuals from anywhere to compete, connect and collaborate — the most important competition is between you and your own imagination, because energetic, innovative and connected individuals can now act on their imaginations farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before.
Those countries and companies that empower their individuals to imagine and act quickly on their imagination are going to thrive. So while there are reasons to be pessimistic about Israel these days, there is one huge reason for optimism: this country has a culture that nurtures and rewards individual imagination — one with no respect for limits or hierarchies, or fear of failure. It’s a perfect fit with this era of globalization.
“We are not investing in products or business plans today, but in people who have the ability to imagine and connect dots,” said Nimrod Kozlovski, a top Israeli expert on Internet law who also works with start-ups. Israel is not good at building big companies, he explained, but it is very good at producing people who say, “Wouldn’t it be great if you could do this ...,” then create a start-up to do it — which is later bought out and expanded by an Intel, Microsoft or Google.
“The motto here is not work hard but dream hard,” Mr. Kozlovski added. “I had some guy come see me the other day and say, ‘You know Google? They make a lot of money, very famous, right? They’re not that good. We have a much better system that correlates to the cognitive process of searching. Google is worth $50 billion? Probably we can match their numbers.’ He was dead serious.”
My guess is that the flatter the world becomes, the wider the economic gap we will see between those countries that empower individual imagination and those that don’t. High oil prices can temporarily disguise that gap, but it’s growing.
Iran’s ignorant president, who keeps babbling about how Israel is going to disappear, ought to pay a visit to Ben Gurion and see these rooms buzzing with student innovators, with projects called “Integration Points for IP Multimedia Subsystems” and “Algorithms for Obstacle Detection and Avoidance.” These are oil wells that don’t run dry.
BEERSHEBA, Israel
Lucien Bronicki is one of Israel’s foremost experts in geothermal power, but when I ran into him last week at Ben Gurion University, in Israel’s Negev Desert, all he wanted to talk about was oil wells. Israel, he told me, had discovered oil.
Pointing to a room full of young Israeli high-tech college seniors, Mr. Bronicki remarked: “These are our oil wells.”
It was quite a scene. Once a year Ben Gurion students in biomedical engineering, software, electrical engineering and computing create elaborate displays of their senior projects or — as in the case of a student-made robot that sidled up to me — demonstrate devices they’ve invented.
On this occasion, Yossi Vardi, the godfather of Israeli venture capitalism — ever since he backed the four young Israelis who invented the first Internetwide instant messaging system, Mirabilis, which was sold to AOL for $400 million in 1998 — brought some of his venture capital pals, like Mr. Bronicki, down to Ben Gurion to scout out potential start-ups and to mentor the grads.
The first student exhibit I visited was by Yuval Sharoni, 26, an electrical engineering senior, whose project was titled an “Innovative Covariance Matrix for Point Target Detection in Hyperspectral Images” (which has to do with military targeting). When I told him I was from The Times, he declared: “This project is going to make the front page, I’m telling you.” The cover of Popular Mechanics, maybe, but it could one day make the Nasdaq, where Israel now has the most companies listed of any nation outside of the United States.
“Today, every Israeli Jewish mother wants her son to be a dropout and go create a start-up,” said Mr. Vardi, who is currently invested in 38 different ones.
Which gets to the point of this column: If you want to know why Israel’s stock market and car sales are at record highs — while Israel’s government is paralyzed by scandals and war with Hamas and doesn’t even have a finance minister — it’s because of this ecosystem of young innovators and venture capitalists. Last year, VCs poured about $1.4 billion into Israeli start-ups, which puts Israel in a league with India and China.
Israel is Exhibit A of an economic phenomenon I see a lot these days. Of course, competition between countries and between companies still matters. But when the world becomes this flat — with so many distributed tools of innovation and connectivity empowering individuals from anywhere to compete, connect and collaborate — the most important competition is between you and your own imagination, because energetic, innovative and connected individuals can now act on their imaginations farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before.
Those countries and companies that empower their individuals to imagine and act quickly on their imagination are going to thrive. So while there are reasons to be pessimistic about Israel these days, there is one huge reason for optimism: this country has a culture that nurtures and rewards individual imagination — one with no respect for limits or hierarchies, or fear of failure. It’s a perfect fit with this era of globalization.
“We are not investing in products or business plans today, but in people who have the ability to imagine and connect dots,” said Nimrod Kozlovski, a top Israeli expert on Internet law who also works with start-ups. Israel is not good at building big companies, he explained, but it is very good at producing people who say, “Wouldn’t it be great if you could do this ...,” then create a start-up to do it — which is later bought out and expanded by an Intel, Microsoft or Google.
“The motto here is not work hard but dream hard,” Mr. Kozlovski added. “I had some guy come see me the other day and say, ‘You know Google? They make a lot of money, very famous, right? They’re not that good. We have a much better system that correlates to the cognitive process of searching. Google is worth $50 billion? Probably we can match their numbers.’ He was dead serious.”
My guess is that the flatter the world becomes, the wider the economic gap we will see between those countries that empower individual imagination and those that don’t. High oil prices can temporarily disguise that gap, but it’s growing.
Iran’s ignorant president, who keeps babbling about how Israel is going to disappear, ought to pay a visit to Ben Gurion and see these rooms buzzing with student innovators, with projects called “Integration Points for IP Multimedia Subsystems” and “Algorithms for Obstacle Detection and Avoidance.” These are oil wells that don’t run dry.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
Hey, it's not welfare. The money the U.S. gives to Israel is to keep the U.S. safe and maintain a balance of power in the region. This is by design by your own elected officials.
yeah, Israel is keeping the area stable...look at how stable it is right now, and it's only getting better...
right...?
As for the rest of you who will inevitably say "ok fine, they'll slit our throats but they only hate us cuz of israel" look up the Barbary Wars. These were a series of wars fought by the U.S. forefathers against various nations in the middle east. Right around the 1800s, some 150 years before Israel's creation. The US has had a foreign policy in the region since then and it has hardly changed.
blub blaa blu blaa boo boo....
Wow... A LOT of hatred and paranoia in that post...
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
IS that all your capable of? I mean it says you have 5200+ posts. Are all of them this good? You think I am just a bigot intent on defending Israel's every move? Don't take my word, read what Thomas Jefferson had to say on the issue some 200 years ago..
Another Genius bent on loving the world 100 times over. Paranoia? LOL! How many more 9/11s do you need before you realize there's a problem that's larger than just "Why can't we all be friends?".
I usually give as good as I get...;)
as for what I think about you...
A) I think you should tone down the use of phrases such as "jerk-off" and "ignorant fucks"...
and Tom wrote a lot of stuff, so I'm not sure what your eluding to...
You are right, I apologize for the use of the profanity. I will edit, it is generally not my style. Read Thomas Jefferson's reasoning behind the Barbary wars and you will see that US foreign policy in the middle east has little to do with Israel and has hardly changed in 200 years....and for good reason.
I'll look for it...thanks for the info...
I never said "why can't we all be friends". The issue is a million times more complex then you make it, and no matter how many times you mention 9/11 or "these people" slitting my throat it's not going to make it that simple.
Do you really think that if we didn't constantly stick our noses in the region in the first place, or train & aid the very people that you are convinced are hellbent on killing us, that we would be in this mess in the first place?
Nuclear arsenals, missle sheilds or invading countries are going to do nothing to prevent another dozen people carrying out a terrorist attack, on the contrary, it will inspire countless others.
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
This is where we disagree. Although I know aggression simply draws more aggression, it is that simple.
U.S. religous fanatics are now arguing Genesis vs Evolution. Why in 2007 are we still arguing Evolution and the Scopes monkey trials all over again? Because religious fanatics are just that. They believe Genesis happened exactly as it was written and cannot afford to believe otherwise.
I mentioned to another blogger to read what Thomas Jefferson had to say during the Barbary wars, where he sites Islamic ideals put forth in the Quoran about infidels and global domination as justification for these wars. Nothing has changed in 200 years.
Why must me over-complicate the very simple?
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
LOL. Funny, but not accurate. Oil is not the only factor for Iraqi occupation. Canada has just as much oil and is much cheaper to invade than Iraq.....
Canadian politicians seem to be stong armed and pussy whipped by the US as of late....and they are white and more or less of the same the religion
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
I'm sure that would go over well. People being faced with the horrors of war right next door to them. People generally prefer it to be far far away from them...outta sight, outta mind.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Look, that's obvious, but are you suggesting that distance is the only reason it was not Canada per se? Do you believe you were conciously mislead by your own government for the purpose of invading an oil rich nation? What if Saddam had no oil but his rectoric and history of disturbing violence were in tact? They'd be no consequences?
The US never gave a shit before..they've always just helped that kinda shit along so you'll have to excuse me if I find this tired rhetoric a bit hard to swallow. In fact, we still aid and support worse governments. Yes, we were misled into supporting an invasion that's sole purpose was to line the pockets of oil men and defense contractors. Period.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Muslims do not hate Israel and America due to the sole cause of religion. Rather, a myriad of determinants. In North America we've occupied Native land for a lot longer, and believe me, they haven't forgotten about it.
I mean 1947. I could have been a 7 year old Palestinian boy in 1947 and I'd be 67 years old now. If I was lucky I would have lived through the displacement and annihilation of my people and the acquisition of my home. But I would be so infuriated that my children and grandchildren would have uninhibited hatred for Israel. They may have even survived 1967 as well. I can't see myself in that situation not hating Israel and anyone that supports them. You know? Have some empathy for Palestinians.
Galloway is right, Israel is a terrorist state. It has robbed millions of their lives, loved ones and land. I can't believe this is still happening in the world. America is setting up permanent base in Iraq and encroaching on Iran, likely to instigate a fight. Everyone's all up in each other's asses with their hands on the goods. Where is the love? What was stopping the Jews from gradually moving back to Palestine and helping the Arabs to develop the land?
It'll never happen.
The economy has polarized to the point where the wealthiest 10% now own 85% of the nation’s wealth. Never before have the bottom 90% been so highly indebted, so dependent on the wealthy.
Take my hand, my child of love
Come step inside my tears
Swim the magic ocean,
I've been crying all these years
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau
since we don't know, maybe you should teach us about this fact...
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau
it's a slow invasion, a frog in the boiling water takeover, this way we're quiet and keep our mouth shut, as long as money keep pouring in, and as long as we can rebuild our militaries with this polluted money... shame shame shame.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau
By your name i guess you're from Montreal.
US foreign policy is an imperialist policy, all about economy and commerce, from estblishing commerce route, to secure oil producing regions, and they're doing so using their military, therefore leading into whole regions and nations hating them.
Kill my dad, and i'll hate you forever, rape my sister and i'll hate you forever, destroy my home and i'll hate you forever, claim my land and i'll hate you forever.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Take my hand, my child of love
Come step inside my tears
Swim the magic ocean,
I've been crying all these years
slow invasion?
they already own us ... the invasion happened a long time ago ... the only thing different now is that it's in the open ...