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Israel Ranks As 8th Most Powerful Country on Earth


From among the 80 countries ranked, the U.S. News and World Report ranked Israel as the 8th most powerful country in the world. Citing Israel’s technological and military prowess, the ranking was a new record for Israel, outdoing countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, South Korea and Canada, who ranked 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th. The ranking lists the countries who project their influence on the world stage the most.

According to the Report, “Israel, the only Jewish nation in the world, is a small country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. For its relatively small size, the country has played a large role in global affairs. The country has a strong economy, landmarks of significance to several religions and strained relationships with many of its Arab neighbors.”

The report further states that “Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with cut diamonds, high-technology equipment, and pharmaceuticals among its major exports. The country is very highly developed in terms of life expectancy, education, per capita income and other human development index indicators. But the country also has one of the most unequal economies in the Western world, with significant gaps between the rich and poor.”

The report also gave a lot of importance to the immigration or Aliyah factor. “While the culture of Jewish Israelis and the Arab minority have remained fairly separate, the country has been influenced by Jewish immigrants from all over the world, many of whom have gone on to make significant contributions to science, politics and the arts.”

The report compared the country’s military spending to that of the U.S. and other countries in the top 10 of the list. “The United States, which is perceived to be the most powerful country, has the world’s largest economy and biggest military budget, spending over $600 billion on military hardware and personnel in 2016. Israel and Saudi Arabia, who took eighth and ninth spots, respectively, spend a higher percentage of their GDP on military spending than the U.S.”

Israel ranked 30th in the best countries category which is the same spot it ranked a year prior.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)



4 Responses

  1. Deuteronomy 20: ​4 For the Lord your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

  2. Without Torah- Israel would be last on the list
    Without the IDF- Israel would be last on the list
    Without loshon hora, sinas chinum, Chillul Hashem, bittul Torah amongst of all us- There would be no need for the IDF, Israel would be top on the list.
    In the meantime, I have hakaros hatov for those that honestly learn and/or honestly serve (emphasis on the word “honest”).

  3. Watch out for the “kochi v’otzem yadi” syndrome here. Chazal warn against this constantly. And “most powerful” here is a very foggy concept. It certainly doesn’t mean that we are guaranteed success against the BDS movement, especially if the US continues to lose credibility.

    Yes, it makes us feel a little safer, but we have problems to solve, and breaking our arms patting ourselves on the back isn’t going to solve them.

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