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I encountered the most impressive Shai Agassi in an Internet cafe run by my elementary school alumni. Agassi is a Jewish entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. If his visions are realized, Israel and Denmark will open an electric car era within two years. Meeting CEO Agassi in Tel Aviv, I thought, "Thanks to this man, I will be able to drive an electric car earlier than expected." He is an innovator, as mentioned by the economist Joseph Schumpeter. Late last year, Time magazine elected him one of its "Heroes of the Environment 2008."
I visited Israel three times last year, and each time I was amazed by the country with a population of 7.28 million. Zohar Zisapel, the chairman of RAD Group in his 50s, is called the "Bill Gates of Israel," and exemplifies Israeli informality. When I met him at his office in Tel Aviv, he was attired in a T-shirt and blue jeans. Listening to the success stories of the chairman of Giza Capital venture firm, I thought about ways of rekindling our vanished zeal for business venture start-ups. Not only that, but on weekends they are filial sons and daughters who dutifully pay family visits on their parents, offering gifts of flowers. "Their piety exceeds ours," said Lee Jung-soon, head of the Korea Business Center in Tel Aviv.
How can you hate such a country? But such favorable sentiments of Israel are hard to come by. People everywhere are fed up with Israel countering Arab countries by force. The current Israeli assaults on Gaza give one the impression that they are totally self-absorbed in their aggressive little world. They are attacking Gaza on the grounds that Hamas fired rockets at Israel. The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli troops surpassed 500 on Tuesday. How many Israelis have been killed by Hamas' rockets? About five.
Israel suffered a defeat after invading Lebanon in 2006, sustaining its only loss in numerous wars against neighboring Arabian countries since 1948. This remains a bitter memory to the Israelis. The defeat came from not only strong Hezbollah resistance, but also unfavorable world opinion against excessive counter-offensives. The same is the case this time around. Hamas provoked Israeli counter-offensives so excessive they could be a repeat of mistakes made by Israel in the Lebanese war.
While the George W. Bush administration is supportive of Israel, most other countries denounce the nation's aggression. Some Israelis who are supposed to support their motherland are criticizing their politicians at home. A case in point is the world-renowned pianist Daniel Barenboim.
Israel shouldn't be a perpetual assailant. The Israeli nation was able to establish a state on Palestinian land because it was a victim of the hellish Nazi concentration camps remembered by survivors, who built the country in the wake of World War II. Many marveled when Israel won several wars after the establishment of their state, the underdog crushing over 100-million Arabs. Israel no longer looks like such an underdog -- or victim. The nation stands at a crossroads.
The column was contributed by Choi Joon-suk from the Chosun Ilbo's News Desk.
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