may see the example in Google: IDB Israel corporate structure. The chart is convincing.

TakeCharge is the new social lobby of Anglos,within the Likud. We are in our initial stages of organizing. If Likud most closely represents your politics and you want to fight for social justice and positive change, we are the address for you. takechargelikud@gmail.com

Its neither here nor there.. Its a watered down version of nothing, best served to old folks with little or no teeth. Its junk...lets move on and talk about the poor state of Beer in the holy land.

whaaaaa'''????? the best beer ever is in Isreal!!!! goldstar is the best!!!!

Less land for us to produce food means we will have to import more. The land deal proposed to the Palestinians is land that can be used for agriculture for our children and our poor. To offset the cost of soaring food prices we will have to go back to producing our own food. If that means that we have to fight to keep land so that our people have more food, then the answer is obvious. I am an animal, threaten my food and I will fight. We should keep the land, its survival of the fittest. Call it religion, call it politics, I call it survival. Wake up idiot intellectuals and willing stooges.

if it is about survival ..do you prefer to die from war or from hunger ..i think in the 3ed world have no choice but in israil you make the choice .. this is the only differance in survival

despite all the "expertise" it seems like its all used for survival. where is all this great israeli technology here in israel? it's abroad. israel can't even afford its own fancy gadgets, and products in general are of low quality. the economic disparity is huge, and is getting worse, and what other 3rd world things? oh yes, there is no general transportation grid, although the country is so small. people here fend for themselves, as if dogs fighting for a bone. that's 3rd world country if you ask me! it's nothing to be ashamed about, really, just don't advertise yourself as something else, even thought the GDP says something different.

by the droves... i went there to live too then left, life is too expensive and there are no good jobs to be had for "outsiders" (that is, those not under the patronage system)... when i say too expensive i mean, it's about going hungry, for some from time to time, for others, most of the time... thank you for printing the truth for once...

first of all, i have to start with complimenting you - in all seriousness, that you have the most brilliant, well thought-out talk backs :-) However, cannot find why you think Israel spends 50% on its GDP on defense? Last I checked it is around 9-10%, which although high, is not 50% and does not affect the cost of consumer products in Israel. Terri is right, it has to do with oligarchy and cartels running our economy. We need an anti-trust authority!

Sorry, but salary differentials are EXACTLY what you find in advanced economies like the USA. Flat salary ranges and controled prices are the goal of the USSR, and we see how well that worked. We in Israel have a bell curve of salaries, just like in all developed western economies. Do we have poor? Yes. Should we do whatever we can do to help them? Yes. But we need to acknowledge that the poor here are better off than people in the FSU or other places where the solution is a managed economy. The only solution that raises incomes and lifestyles in the long run is the free market, which involves motivations and incentives for hard work and success.

Thank you for your kind words. It's 50%. Trust me. Perhaps even a bit higher. While not officially a deep, dark secret, the information is guarded the way the Saudis guard information about their oil reserves. It is also money very well spent. What I cannot stand is lazy and self-indulgent youth who think that the State of Israel owes them everything. Israel is the only country in the world where Jews can truly be safe. They are the real danger to the State; not the oligarchs or cartels. A free market economy is good for Israel. But the malaise I see in today's youth is not limited to Israel. I see the same thing in the United States and in Europe. I see it in the Far East, too -- in places where it is really unexpected, such as Japan and Singapore. I know something's broken. I don't know how to fix it.