The damage that the coronavirus pandemic has done to Israel's export is relatively minor compared to the damage it did to Europe and other developed countries.
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It stems mainly from the fact that the tourism industry is more significant in those economies than in Israel. The hundreds of millions of tourists who did not visit Europe, the United States, Japan, and Australia affected them more than Israel.
It might seem like good news for our country, but in reality, it's not. Tourism should have been more significant in Israel to begin with.
Also, the Israeli software export not only remained unaffected by the pandemic, it actually improved as a result of the current challenges.
The Achilles heel of the Israeli economy is productivity and diversity. The fact that the damage to Israel's economy was relatively small despite the fact that about two million Israelis have been laid off shows that we have a big problem. Had we been more efficient in the first place, the damage to our economy would have been more severe.
It wouldn't have been terrible because it is more crucial for us to have a strong economy than to enjoy the instant pleasures of the crisis. It's like when a person doesn't have a car he doesn't have to worry about road repairs. The goal is to integrate more Israelis into the export and high-tech industries, in which productivity and diversity are more prevalent than in the public sector.
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