<P> The authors argue that a major factor for Israel's economic growth can be found in the culture of the Israel Defense Forces, in which service is mandatory for most young Israelis . The authors believe that IDF service provides potential entrepreneurs with the opportunities to develop a wide array of skills and contacts . They also believe that IDF service provides experience exerting responsibility in a relatively un-hierarchical environment where creativity and intelligence are highly valued . IDF soldiers "have minimal guidance from the top, and are expected to improvise, even if this means breaking some rules . If you're a junior officer, you call your higher - ups by their first names, and if you see them doing something wrong, you say so ." Neither ranks nor ages matter much "when taxi drivers can command millionaires and 23 - year - olds can train their uncles," and "Israeli forces regularly vote to oust their unit leaders ." </P> <P> The book also dwells at length on immigration and its role in Israel's economic growth: "Immigrants are not averse to start from scratch . They are by definition risk - takers . A nation of immigrants is a nation of entrepreneurs . From survivors of the Holocaust to Soviet refuseniks through the Ethiopian Jews, the State of Israel never ceased to be a land of immigration: 9 out of 10 Jewish Israelis today are immigrants or descendants of immigrants the first or second generation . This specific demographic, causing fragmentation of community that still continues in the country, is nevertheless a great incentive to try their luck, to take risks because immigrants have nothing to lose ." </P> <P> Additional factors cited by the authors include a sense of dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs, a culture where individuals frequently tinker with technology, and government policies friendly to start - ups . </P> <P> Using stories and anecdotes, the book provides examples of Israel's technological and medical achievements, among them "the Israeli innovations that made possible Google Suggest, the list of suggestions that appear instantly in menu form as you type a search request, the capsule endoscopy, a miniature camera embedded in a pill so that 18 photos per second can be wirelessly and painlessly transmitted from gastrointestinal tracts ." </P>

Start-up nation the story of israel’s economic miracle