Despite its relatively small size and the constant threats it encounters, Israel is a leading world-class power, a new international survey shows.
Israel was ranked the eighth most powerful country in the world among the countries that have influence on the world stage.
The Best Countries rankings, conducted in partnership with brand strategy firm BAV Consulting and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, is based on a survey which asked more than 16,000 people from four regions to associate 60 countries with specific characteristics.
The countries’ power is ranked by the way they consistently dominate news headlines, preoccupy policymakers and shape economic forecasts. Their foreign and economic policy decisions can have ripple effects all over the world. Their military budgets are tracked religiously.
Writing about Israel, the survey says that “for its relatively small size, the country has played a large role in global affairs. The country has a strong economy, landmarks of significance to several religions and strained relationships with many of its Arab neighbors.”
“Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with cut diamonds, high-technology equipment and pharmaceuticals among its major exports. The country is highly developed in terms of life expectancy, education, per capita income and other human development index indicators.” The survey stated.
The US, Russia, China, Germany and the UK ranked as the top five most powerful countries.
“Israel was ranked as the number eight world power in the world based on three things: Military power, international influence and, notice how they put it – international alliances. I didn’t choose to say it, they did. They rank us for our international power and our international alliances,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Monday during a meeting with his Likud political party.
“For a long time, I’ve been telling you that we have been seeing two trends – one of the delegitimization of the State of Israel, and we’re fighting this, and another is strengthening the alliances Israel has,” he added.
When all factors and parameters of the survey are taken into consideration, Israel ranks 25th in the world.
