In 2009, Dan Senor and Saul Singer’s Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle introduced worldwide readers to the extraordinary entrepreneurial revolution taking place in Israel. The book climbed to the top of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists and bestowed a new nickname on Israel as the startup nation. 

A lot has happened during the 16 years since that blockbuster book was published. 

According to the 2024 Startup Nation Central Annual Report, Israel’s high-tech sector is “evolving from a startup hub to a scale-up powerhouse, with larger funding rounds, a growing number of mature companies, and a surge in acquisition-driven exits.”

The report pinpointed resilience and adaptability as the keywords for the sector, comprised of 7,030 companies.

Dive into the books below to get an insider understanding of the startup nation’s origins and its trajectory into the present time.

THE GENIUS OF ISRAEL: THE SURPRISING RESILIENCE OF A DIVIDED NATION IN A TURBULENT WORLD by Dan Senor and Saul Singer

The bestselling duo wrote this book in 2023 to examine how innovation may be driven by the resilience of Israeli citizens – not just entrepreneurs, but also politicians, soldiers, students, scientists, activists, ultra-Orthodox Jews, Tel Aviv techies and Israeli Arabs — in a society built around the values of service, solidarity and belonging.

Among the questions they seek to answer: Why do Israelis have one of the world’s highest life expectancies? Why is Israel’s population young and growing while other wealthy democracies are aging and shrinking? How can it be that Israel is one of the happiest nations? Why do Israelis tend to look to the future with hope, optimism, and purpose while most the West struggles with social decline?

ISRAEL INNOVATION EDUCATION by Mason Ross 

This title, just released in February, explores how Israel has become a hub for educational technology (ed tech) innovation. Mason Ross examines the country’s unique approach to integrating technology into education through entrepreneurship and outcome-based research. 

The book emphasizes that Israel’s ed-tech boom results from a deliberate strategy that offers a model for other nations. It highlights the importance of adaptability and resourcefulness, offering case studies and practical guidelines for formulating policies that support ed-tech development.

THOU SHALT INNOVATE: HOW ISRAELI INGENUITY REPAIRS THE WORLD by Avi Jorisch

Released in March 2018 and now translated into 36 languages, Thou Shalt Innovate provides 15 case studies of how Israelis of all faiths are “making life better for billions of people around the world and how Israeli ingenuity is helping to feed the hungry, cure the sick, and provide shelter for the homeless.” 

Jorisch focuses on classic Israeli innovations: drip irrigation, United Hatzalah, Iron Dome, the Grain Cocoon, the Tabor rooftop solar water collector, ReWalk, Alpha Omega’s GPS for deep brain stimulation, Check Point’s Firewall-1, PillCam, SpineAssist, the Emergency Bandage, Rebif, cannabis research, reducing plane-bird collisions, and reviving an ancient date palm.

CHUTZPAH: WHY ISRAEL IS A HUB FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP by Inbal Arieli 

Tech entrepreneur, author, public speaker and mother of three boys Inbal Arieli wrote a series of columns for ISRAEL21c proposing that Israel’s knack for innovation stems not just from the military but from the way Israeli kids are entrusted with independence and responsibility from a very young age.

She then did additional research on the topic and produced this book, published in 2019 by Harper Business, “so the entire world can read an in-depth explanation of why Israeli chaos and chutzpah leads to success.” 

THE UNSTOPPABLE STARTUP: MASTERING ISRAEL’S SECRET RULES OF CHUTZPAH by Uri Adoni 

In this 2020 title, venture capitalist Uri Adoni proposes that any entrepreneur can adopt the Israeli secrets to startup success that he has distilled into six operational chutzpah rules: build an unstoppable team; foresee the future and innovate to meet its demands; manage your funding and partnerships through all phases of growth; dominate the market category you are after or create a new one; build and manage an early-stage investment vehicle; build and grow a healthy high-tech ecosystem. Sounds easy, huh?

LET THERE BE WATER: ISRAEL’S SOLUTION FOR A WATER-STARVED WORLD, by Seth M. Siegel

In this New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller from 2015, Seth Siegel explains how semi-arid Israel became the go-to country for proven ways of making the most of that most precious, fast-dwindling resource – water.

Siegel breaks down the science and warns that hundreds of millions could find the tap running dry unless they follow Israel’s example in water technology, reclamation, management and desalination.

ISRAEL AND THE CYBER THREAT: HOW THE STARTUP NATION BECAME A GLOBAL CYBER POWER by Charles D. Freilich, Matthew S. Cohen and Gabi Siboni 

This is a comprehensive examination of how tiny Israel grew to be a global civil and military cyber power. The authors show that, as usual, necessity is the mother of invention: Israel’s extremely sophisticated cybersecurity ecosystem stems from the need to protect itself from numerous cyberattacks launched by foreign adversaries. 

The book, published in 2023, also details the major cyber threats facing Israel, including an in-depth look at Iranian cyber policies and attacks; Israel’s defensive and offensive capabilities; international cooperation; and the impact of Israel’s strategic culture on its cyber prowess. 

ISRAEL: THE START-UP NATION FOR MEDICAL INNOVATION by Rob Norman

“On my many trips to Israel as the national chairman of the Jewish National Fund’s Doctors for Israel, I have observed the amazing life-saving and life-enhancing advances of Israeli medicine and discussed the future of medicine and science with many leading scientists,” writes Dr. Rob Norman, explaining what inspired him to write this book in 2017.

Norman highlights numerous accomplishments by Israeli medicine and science companies and provides an overview of why Israel is a world center for innovation. The book features an intro by Jon Medved, founder and CEO of Jerusalem-based VC OurCrowd.

ISRAEL’S EDGE: THE STORY OF THE IDF’S MOST ELITE UNIT – TALPIOT by Jason Gewirtz

This 2016 title describes the secretive IDF unit called Talpiot, which teaches handpicked young Israelis how to think rather than how to fight. Talpiot sends its soldiers to the top Israeli universities to learn advanced physics, math and computer science, creating a cadre of men and women who become research-and-development leaders during their 10 years in the army and a major force in the civilian Israeli entrepreneurial scene.