Former-Israeli excellence
Op-ed: Embracing of 'part-Israeli' scientists who win prestigious international awards is provincial, ridiculous
It's a national holiday in Israel! South African and American scientists who were once in Israel won the Nobel Prize! Next year on our program "One of Our Own": A Norwegian scientist whose mother dated a kibbutznik in the 1960s wins a Nobel; a Swedish singer whose grandmother visited the Western Wall wins the Eurovision song contest; and an Australian director who ate shakshuka once wins the Oscar.
Brain Drain
Chemistry prize winner Michael Levitt recalls route to scientific breakthrough, illustrating Israel's brain-drain problem in matter-of-fact terms
Undoubtedly, Israel showed the world once again what it means to be American. Just give these brilliant minds the best Israel has to offer – Stanford University's budget and USC's labs – and see how they bring us great national pride.
As participants in the "brain drain" program for the encouragement of former-Israeli excellence around the globe, we win the jackpot again and again. Academic institutions from all over the world ask themselves: What is the Israeli formula? How do they do it? The answer is simple: We take the most brilliant minds, give them as little as possible and as many reasons to leave as possible, help them make the bold decision, shout "traitors" after they have left, and they, in return, win the Nobel Prize and bring us great national pride that causes us to embrace them while they say they are "part Israeli" – like the new Nobel laureate Warshel mumbled.
Israel finds a way to take the credit for every award-winning study that is conducted in the US. The Jewish mind never ceases to find new ways to turn every Jewish mind that wins a prestigious award into national pride.
Because while these scientists may have not been born here or conducted their important research here, and maybe they do not plan on ever returning to Israel – there is no reason all this should prevent the prime minister and science minister from declaring that these scientists have brought us "national pride."
Yes, it's provincial, ridiculous, somewhat hypocritical and attests to desperation for acknowledgement, but what do we care? This Nobel Prize is ours until proven otherwise. And if it proven, you can bet that the researcher will be one of our own. A brilliant man, by the way. Used to work at the Weizmann Institute.
