3 amazing innovations you didn’t know were from Israel

Israel is well-known, worldwide, as the Start-Up Nation. If you have read the book by Saul Singer and Dan Senor, you might already know about some of the extraordinary examples and motivations we are going to mention in this short, but interesting article. If you haven’t, this is your time to enjoy and discover even more amazing things about the land of our ancestors and the resilient mindset of its people.

Why is Israel the Startup Nation? How does Israel have a higher ranking than Silicon Valley in all entrepreneurship and technology rankings? How is it possible that Israel has a higher number of startups per capita than any other country in the entire world?

Well, there are numerous reasons to explain this praiseworthy phenomenon. The first thing we must understand is the mentality of the typical Israeli. You will meet different kinds of Israelis on your next visit to the Land of Milk and Honey, but if there’s one thing they all have in common is that they’re resilient, stubborn, and very hard working.

Some people say that Israelis have been like this from the very beginning, and that this behavior is because of the permanent and ongoing need to subsist and survive. Not only because of wars and our not-so-friendly neighbors, but also because of the desert. Israelis learned, long ago, how to – literally – make the desert flourish… Because one way or another, they had to eat.

Throughout the years, the brilliant Israeli minds, pivoted from the agricultural fields to the field of technology, and while totally succeeding at it, a number of Israeli companies have even made it into the NASDAQ. Incredible for such a young country, isn’t it?

Israeli inventions you had no idea were from Israel

Israelis are constantly creating new things, and most of these creations become huge successes all over the globe. Successes that are so huge that some people stay on the “product” itself and forget to think where it was designed, first built, or thought of. The answer to all of these questions in the 3 cases we are bringing you now is the same: Israel.

Are you ready to discover a few Israeli inventions that you use or eat on a regular basis? Here we go!

Cherry Tomato

Don’t you like a nice arugula salad with some tasty cherry tomatoes to put next to your delicious hummus plate? Well, these delicious tiny tomatoes were invented in Israel.

Although history drives us to some beautiful areas of South America to clarify its origins, it wasn’t until Nahum Kedar and Chaim Rabinovitch, from the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem developed it on mass, that it became popular all over the world.

Thanks to Israel, the cherry tomato became one of the most popular sweet and healthy snacks all over the world!

Actually, the Faculty of Agriculture, located in Rehovot and very close to the Weizmann Institute, is home to numerous creative geniuses who have invented, created and developed many interesting, important, and tasty things.

Disk on Key

How many times have you taken a presentation on a disk-on-key from one place to another? Did you know that these tiny USB devices to carry information inside your pocket were developed in Israel?

Actually, did you know that all memory cards like Scan Disk were first designed and developed in the Land of Milk and Honey? Well, apparently you just learned something new!

These devices, well known also as USB-Flash Drives, are an Israeli invention that gained a US patent back in November of 2000. Now, every time your kids bring their homework to school on one of these tiny devices, or every time you bring a presentation to either your boss or a client on a tiny USB device, you can start singing an Israeli song from Eurovision… it just makes sense, doesn’t it?

Waze

How did we know how to get from one place to another while driving before Waze? That is a question many people ask themselves constantly! Thanks to Waze we can now know not only know how to get to different places, but also what the roads are going to be like, how much time it is going to take us, if there are any traffic jams, and even if some friendly police officers are going to be checking your speed.

Before Waze was sold to Google, it was (and still is) an Israeli startup based in the city of Ra’anana. Waze’s founder, Uri Levine, still works at the company and has a great team of Israelis developing and improving the app from the gorgeous Google offices in Tel Aviv.

Did you know this app was originally from Israel? Try driving to the nearest Shawarma spot in your city by following Waze’s instructions. The time is now!

Bonus track: Drip Irrigation

A little bonus track that, most likely, you knew was Israeli. But in any case, we have to bring it up! We are talking about the great company Netafim and its greatest invention: Drop Irrigation.

We are only going to say one thing. The only way to make the desert flourish while living in a country with almost no water nor natural resources, was to implement drip irrigation technologies.

This technology is now helping numerous countries and ecosystems in development, and as Israelis, we couldn’t feel prouder of it.

Learn some Hebrew today. The time is now!

You could come to Israel any day and meet some of the most brilliant minds in the country while visiting the shuk, or while swimming on one of the best coasts of the country. But in order to speak fluently with them and have a serious conversation, you have to learn some Hebrew.

In the Rosen School’s online Hebrew courses, learning the language of our matriarchs, patriarchs, and these geniuses who created these phenomenal inventions, is not only easy, but also fast and fun.

Enroll yourself in one of these Hebrew classes, and let yourself be surprised with your amazing improvement. The time is now! Behatzlacha!