The Strategic Perspective and Long-Term Socioeconomic Strategies for Israel: Key Methods with an Application to Aging

Many of Israel’s socioeconomic achievements have been dramatic. A young country that has absorbed massive influxes of immigrants and responded to constant security threats, Israel successfully developed a vibrant, open, and technologically advanced economy characterized by high rates of economic growth. However, Israel faces substantial economic and social challenges, some of which are well known to policymakers and have recently fueled a wide wave of social unrest. These challenges include differential ability within the population to participate in and benefit from the growth in the economy, rising costs of living, and questions on the part of the public about the government’s ability to address those challenges. Faced with major existential challenges throughout Israel’s history, the government has not routinely developed strategic responses to problems that demand longer-term, coordinated policy action. This research is an initial attempt in developing means by which Israel could enhance its capacity for applying strategic thinking to the development of government policy, particularly in the socioeconomic sphere.