Book Review: The Secret of Israel’s Power by Uzi Eilam

Title: The Secret of Israel’s Power
Author: Uzi Eilam
Genre: Nonfiction, Arms Control
Rating: 3,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The successful track record of Israeli innovation policies, told from within.

This is the inside story on how Israel became a military technology powerhouse within less than two generations, told by Brigadier Uzi Eilam. The story blends the broad view of a person who led the creation of incredibly far-sighted R&D programs, with intimate portraits of the main players in a complex strategy that spans continents, corporations and armies.

Eilam’s story focuses on Israel’s decision to add technology to the military factor when creating attack and defense mechanisms, against its threats. Eilam also tells how Israel, with its persistence, courage and “chutzpa”, made a very successful journey and was able to create an internationally competitive space program.

More than any other account, this book explains how a very small country was able to make a concentrated use of its limited assets with astute leverage of international relationships while at the same time, create the backbone of Israeli civilian technology industries.

In The Secret of Israel’s Power, the author investigates how Israel achieved a feat that not many nations did before: become a military powerhouse in less than two generations.

A lot of focus is put on the decision to add technology and combine it with military progress, creating various attack and defense mechanisms that eventually gave Israel a huge advantage over potential opponents. But it also focuses on the human component: on human’s strength and courage.

The book is nonfiction, but it’s far from dull or boring – it gives an intriguing, detailed insight and shows a thorough understanding of how the military works and how technical know-how can advance military forces.