There are a number of reasons why we should not take Israel as an economic model

IN his letter (January 8), Ciarán Cleary contends that Ireland should take Israel as an economic model, apparently believing its affluent, hi-tech researchers to be representative of that country generally.

In reality, Israel’s society is one of extreme inequality and one-third of its children live in poverty. This statistic excludes Palestinians under occupation and anyone wondering how “poverty” is defined in Israel will find that the reports of anti-poverty group Latet make grim reading. Whatever our difficulties, no sane person would trade Ireland’s socio-economic indicators for Israel’s.

Even Mr Cleary’s comparison of Irish obsession with property and Israeli investment in technology is dubious. Consider, for example, Ireland’s comfortable lead over Israel in international business consultant BCG’s global innovation index, or the troubled real estate behemoth Africa Israel Investments – not to mention how Israel has pumped billions into its colonial settlements and daily augments this investment against peace.