6/26/2007

As Israel Prospers, Some Fear Its Defenses May Grow Soft - WSJ.com

Check out: As Israel Prospers, Some Fear Its Defenses May Grow Soft - WSJ.com

There's a box with a statistic stating that of Israel's 6 wealthiest cities, Modiin has the highest rate of army service and the highest rate of soldiers in combat units. This is a chiddush for two reasons:
1) It's very impressive that the stats in Modiin are so high. I'm not sure why that is, but it fits the profile of the people - religious and secular - that I've met. It could be a result of the high percentage of army personnel that lives in Modiin. It could be the result of the inclusion of Re'ut, which historically takes pride in the number of pilots it produces. The high combat numbers - along with Ra'anana - might be an indication that there's a large numebr of religious soldiers. Religious soldiers tend to gravitate toward combat units, especially infantry, tanks, and artillery. Modiin and Raanana have the highest % of religious people amongst the 6 cities mentioned. If we keep sending our kids to little league, maybe the trend will continue (the Miracle crushed the Pioneers on opening day).
2) I didn't know that Modiin was one of Israel's wealthiest cities. It makes sense, though. Modiin was 'manufactured' in the last decade for middle-income/upper-middle-income families. There are no real 'poor' parts of Modiin. You may not have the fantastic wealth of a Herzliya, but there's not much poverty either. Contrast that with Jerusalem, where you have fabulous wealth and abject poverty living side by side. It's both the wealthiest and poorest city in Israel.

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