Behind Israel’s “phenomenal success is a restless culture of self-criticism and responsibility that keeps the country on its toes and propels it forward”

It’s not a coincidence that Israel is a global leader in scientific and cultural innovation and that its economy is so far ahead of any other in the region. Behind this phenomenal success is a restless culture of self-criticism and responsibility that keeps the country on its toes and propels it forward.

Israel’s shortcomings are legion — from social and economic injustices, to ethnic discrimination, to the high cost of living, to its failure to resolve its conflict with the Palestinians — but so are its armies of critics and activists who fight to expose these faults and to make the country a better place. This makes for a noisy and messy society, with much of the noise coming from the criticism itself.

David Suissa, “Exporting Self-Criticism”, Jewish Journal (31 October – 6 November 2014), 8.