Behind Israel's High-Tech Reputation Is a Low-Tech Economy
- Country’s growth stifled as 90 percent of economy shuns tech
- Goverment teams with private sector to try to shake things up
Photographer: Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
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When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasts about his country’s powerhouse technology, he glosses over the fax machines that banks still use, the homes that take nearly three years to build and the classrooms that don’t have a single computer.
Behind Israel’s shiny reputation as a locus of innovation lies the low-tech reality of much of the country’s economy, which stilts growth by reducing productivity. Israel ranks 23rd out of 35 nations on the OECD’s productivity scale.