Introduction

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Israeli sovereignty using the methodology of the Burke Institute. Sovereignty is assessed in 7 areas: political, economic, technological, informational, cultural, cognitive and military. Each aspect is assessed on the basis of official data from international and national sources (UN, World Bank, UNESCO, IMF, ITU, FAO, SIPRI, PISA, etc.) without using politicized indexes. The maximum score in each direction is 100; the sum (up to 700) is the accumulated Sovereignty Index (Burke Index).

To adapt and adjust statistical parameters, an international expert survey was conducted for each of the seven components using a single questionnaire of 10 questions with a 10-point scale and one open-ended question.

In total, at least 100 experts from 50+ countries were interviewed for each indicator, taking into account geographical representation and specialization. When calculating and analyzing the data, equalizing coefficients were used, bringing all data to a scale of 0-10 points.

The final index value is the arithmetic mean between statistical data and expert estimates.

Below is an analysis in each area, a summary table and the main conclusions about the peculiarities of Israeli sovereignty.

Political sovereignty — 65

Israel is a full member of the United Nations (since 1949), the IMF, the WTO, the World Bank, the IAEA, WHO, ILO, CERN, EMBL, EMBO, OECD (since 2010), the NATO Mediterranean Dialogue, the International Monetary Bank, the Paris Club, and actively participates in a number of European scientific and economic forums and agreements. Israel is not a member of regional Arab and Muslim alliances and is not part of military blocs.

Israel formally recognizes the priority of national legislation: the supremacy of the decisions of the Supreme Court, the refusal to comply with the jurisdiction of the ICC and a number of other instances for “sovereign reasons.” International treaties are implemented selectively, many provisions of international law are valid, but the priority remains with the main state laws.

In 2025, additional restrictions have been imposed on the work of international/humanitarian and human rights NGOs and pressure on international courts. 2024-2025: significant internal tension due to contradictions on the law on judicial reform, the powers of the government and the courts, mass protest activity, the dominance of security and foreign policy issues.

Nevertheless, government agencies remain functional, and no escalations threatening the regime have been recorded. For 2023 (World Bank): 83.5% percentage is one of the highest indicators in the world, entry into the top 25 in terms of public administration efficiency according to the WGI, steady growth in recent years. EGDI 2024, UN — 0.901 (23rd place in the world), “Very High EGDI" class; and according to the subcategory of e-Participation — 53rd place (0.6987). Among the most developed countries in the field of digital public services and infrastructure.

Trust in the ruling leadership (2024-2025) is extremely polarized: electoral support for the ruling coalition (Likud, etc.) is 34-38% (various sources), mass opposition protests, and a high level of political conflict, especially on issues of religion, the army, and the court. There are no foreign military bases, and the deployment of any foreign armed formations is prohibited.

Israel allows only joint training, exchanges, and technology projects with the United States, but there is no U.S. or NATO military infrastructure in the country. Israel distances itself from the ICC, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and a number of other instances on key issues (including investigations of attacks and operations), jurisdiction is limited and often not recognized.

The execution of individual arbitrations on trade disputes is possible within the WTO. Israel is a unitary state with extremely high centralization: all decisions, taxes, police, management and protection are at the national level, cities and towns have only limited powers.

Parliamentary and government control over intelligence and the internal security service (Shin Bet, Mossad, AMAN) is officially in effect, and periodic investigations in the Knesset are underway, but there is no effective civilian oversight, the transparency of the intelligence services is limited, and the level of independent external control is “average.”

Data completeness assessment: the main indicators are available from international sources, the coverage is 98%.

Economic sovereignty — 71

According to official data and forecasts, GDP per capita (PPP) in 2024 is 47 339-55 691 USD (World Bank, IMF, TradingEconomics, Statista), the average consensus at the end of 2025-48 996-56 440 USD, among the leaders of the OECD and the world. Reserves reached a record 230.3 billion USD (0831/2025, Central Bank and media data), equivalent to 28 months of imports and ~41% of GDP.

The national debt for 2025 is 69-70% of GDP (Bank of Israel, TradingEconomics, IMF, Statista), the growth is associated with defense spending in the context of escalation at the border. Self-sufficiency – 62-75% (by items: milk, vegetables, eggs, greens — 80-90%; grain, sugar, meat, animal proteins — mainly imported).

The government maintains strategic reserves, operates a system of “food baskets", storage infrastructure and forward contracts. The country is fully self-sufficient in electricity, gas, and partially in oil (export and processing of gas from the Leviathan, Tamar, and Kari fields), but oil and petroleum products are still partially imported; the level of energy independence is 90% according to industry forecasts.

Large deposits of natural gas (9-13 trillion cubic feet), oil, phosphates, Dead Sea salts, composite materials, tar sands, significant resources for the military-industrial complex and the chemical industry. 95% of the population is provided with centralized water supply, the desalination sector is developed (5 plants, more than 600 million cubic meters / year), large reservoirs and reservoirs; excess water / resource capacities are exported to Jordan, a high level of hydro-self-sufficiency for the region.

The national Shekel Settlement System (ILS), the national QR payment infrastructure, domestic and international banks, payment gateways are controlled by the Central Bank; the Israeli-wide MASAV system, national innovations in digital banking and sectoral FinTech.

The absolute dominance of the shekel in domestic settlements, more than 85% of all contracts in the B2C and B2B segment are in ILS, and dollars/euros are used for export and import.

Absolute emission autonomy: The Central Bank of Israel fully controls the issue of the shekel, the interest rate, monetary and credit policy, currency, and the operation of the entire payment and banking system.

Data completeness assessment: the main macroeconomic indicators are available from official sources (World Bank, IMF), coverage is 90%

Technological sovereignty — 81

World leader: 6.3–6.35% of GDP (2022-2023), $28.3 billion, the highest percentage among all countries in the world (2-3 times higher than the OECD average). The country is the global center of its own high-tech industry: more than 85% of innovative equipment, software, and components are developed or adapted internally; the largest sector of the national economy is IT, startups, clouds, agriculture, and cybersecurity.

Coverage (share of population 25-34 s) degree: 56% of women and 36% of men, nationwide total >44% (OECD data); in the 19-age group, one of the highest enrollment rates among developed countries (7.5% of the cohort). 92.1–91.1% of the population (8.5–8.61 million people at the beginning of 2025), fixed speed — 217.4 Mbps, mobile — 44.4 Mbps. All key public service platforms (Gov.il, myGov, tax, medical, education), fintech, clouds and CRM — national developments (various vendors, integration, export).

Israel is one of the least import-dependent developed markets for high-tech: >80% of products and services (software, cyber, fintech, clouds, analytics) are domestic. EGDI — 0.901 (23rd place, UN), national digital infrastructure among the world leaders, online — almost the entire range of public services and administrative services.

Own biotech industry and agrobio: genetic engineering, pharmaceuticals, production of original drugs and food, national laboratories. Active developments, national production and export of industrial, agricultural, military and medical robotics (companies Elbit, IAI, Mobileye), presence in global markets.

Significant, but not absolute: the production of chips (Tower Semiconductors; Intel Israel), design and R&D are proprietary, however, some of the high-tech chips and critical equipment are purchased from global giants, which reduces 100% independence.

Data completeness assessment: key indicators are obtained from WIPO, ITU, UNESCO, which provides 93% coverage.

Information sovereignty — 65

Israel is a world leader in cybersecurity (GCI-2024, ITU): Top 3, 1st group “Fully Developed”; there is a state national CERT (CERT GOVIL, IUCC-CERT), Cyber Directorate infrastructure, certification system, dozens of independent and corporate monitoring centers. In 2024, the sector attracted $4 billion in investments, an ecosystem of startups and exports.

There are at least 2 large and several small Internet exchange nodes (IXPs): Israeli Internet Exchange IIX (Petah Tikva, the largest regional one), two hubs in Tel-Aviv, and private exchange points.

The official language is Hebrew; the main media outlets publish in Hebrew, and content is also created in Arabic, Russian, and English. Specialized channels in Arabic for Palestinian and Arab audiences, a significant proportion are media outlets for Russian-speaking returnees, and non-governmental media outlets in English for the diplomatic corps and new migrants.

The country's key cloud and IT infrastructure (fintech, government, military-industrial complex, telecommunications, DATACOM, defense) are mainly national developments. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, IBM have regional data centers and R&D centers, but most of the critical government and banking platforms are protected/developed internally.

More than 75% of the content of TV, radio, and online platforms is Israeli-made (news, documentaries, entertainment, drama, analytics, original TV); the remaining share is global streams, foreign news services, and licensed programs. One of the world's software production centers: Israel exports dozens of unique platforms (fintech, cybersecurity, telecom, analytics, CRM), national solutions are implemented in government agencies, banking and military infrastructure, and more than 3,000 IT companies are present on the global market.

More than 91% of the population uses the Internet (8.6 million), most routine government, banking, medical, and educational operations are carried out online; EGDI is 0.901. The Nimbus public cloud is operating (since 2023, segments of Amazon AWS, Google Cloud and Israeli operators), the sector of local data centers has been developed, solutions for government data on servers in Israel have been standardized, and most critical information is locally available.

Three national operators (Cellcom, Pelephone, Partner) are fully licensed, the core and monitoring of the infrastructure of the national regulator, the equipment is partially imported, but the management and regulation are national. There are specialized secure networks for government agencies.

The Law on Information Protection (Protection of Privacy Law, as amended in 2023): full legal regime, comprehensive supervision, included localization requirements, control, notification of leaks, verification for processing, regular fines. It is harmonized with GDPR and OECD DPR.

Data completeness assessment: infrastructure indicators are available from ITU, CIRA, OECD and specialized sources, coverage is 94%.

Cultural sovereignty — 75

There are 9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Israel (all cultural):

• Masada

• Old Town of Akko

• The White City of Tel Aviv (Bauhaus)

• Baha’i Shrines of Haifa and Galilee

• Biblical Hills (Megiddo, Hazor, Beersheba)

• The Caves of Nahal Mearot/ Wadi al-Mughara (archeology)

• Beit She’arim Necropolis

• Caves of Maresha and Beit Guvrin

• Kadcha along the Bukha routes (desert cities, the ancient way of incense).

Biblical, Jewish, Christian and Islamic heritage; writing, philosophy, music (from the early synagogue to the modern world stage), cinema, Nobel Prizes, high-tech (“startup nation”), innovative medicine, agricultural technologies, cultural diplomacy.

The Israeli Prize in Literature, Fine Arts, and Music; the Ophir Awards (Israeli Oscars), awards from the Academy of Sciences, Theater, and Architecture; annual awards in dance, media, and traditions, youth grants, and university awards.

The country is the center of Jewish and Mediterranean civilization; Shabbat, Pesach, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah and other Jewish holidays are celebrated; the importance of the Arab, Armenian, Druze, Russian-speaking, Ethiopian and secular blocs.

There is a system of subsidies and grants for Arab, Druze and Bedouin villages, Russian- and Amharic-speaking families, schools, cultural centers, museums, local media are funded, religious and cultural communities are supported. There are over 300 museums in the country, dozens of theaters, philharmonic halls, cultural centers, university museums, archives; thousands of monuments, historical landscapes and architectural ensembles, archaeological zones.

The largest participant of the Eurovision Song Contest, the Venice Biennale, international book, film and music festivals; integration into scholarship programs, exchanges with Italy, France, Germany, the USA, Latin American and Asian countries.

Registration of “Israeli cuisine," "Jaffa," "Sabra," "Technion," "Start-Up Nation," "Ophir Awards" brands, protection of original musical, gastronomic, cinematic narratives; control through state funds and international law. Israeli cuisine is a mix of Middle Eastern, Eastern European, North African, Russian, Yemeni, Iraqi, Ethiopian, Greek, French, Armenian and global gastronomic traditions; hummus, shakshuka, falafel, kubane, cholent, baklava, fish and meat, wines and desserts.

78-86% of the population visits museums, theaters, concerts, cultural and religious events at least once a year; about 55-60% take part in city festivals and mass cultural events.

Data completeness assessment: basic indicators are available in UNESCO and national statistics, coverage is 97%.

Cognitive sovereignty — 77

Israel's HDI in 2023-2024 is estimated at 0.919–0.922, which corresponds to a "very high" level of development and is among the top 20 countries in the world, according to the UNDP and the World Bank. Education spending is fixed at 6.1-6.5% of GDP (according to various sources in 2023-2024), OECD data confirm one of the highest rates among OECD countries.

The literacy rate of the population exceeds 97% (almost 100% among young people), which corresponds to the level of developed countries, according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics and other sources.

Israel participates in PISA and regularly ranks at the top of the rankings, especially in reading and science; the average score in mathematics in 2022-2023 is about 490-500, which is slightly below the OECD average, but the dynamics are generally stable. The share of graduates from the STEM sector is 35%, and higher education focuses on IT, engineering, medicine, biotechnology, as well as research on info-communications and artificial intelligence.

About 12-15% of university and college programs are implemented in partnership with foreign universities (USA, Europe), there is wide access to online learning and distance learning courses.

Along with Hebrew and Arabic, the languages of Ethiopian, Druze, Armenian and other minorities are recognized and supported in Israel, as well as equal understanding and are represented in educational and media programs.

There are about 25 federal and university research institutes and centers in the country, including the Technion, the Weizmann Institute, several NIH affiliated research centers, foundations and platforms for stimulating innovation.

The share of online education on its own platforms is about 70%, including large government online education systems, distance learning platforms and integrated LMS. The government allocates more than 4,000 scholarships and grants annually, and there are specific programs to support youth, IT and science talents, as well as measures to encourage internships and innovation.

Data completeness assessment: education indicators are available in UNDP, UNESCO, OECD, coverage is 92%.

Military sovereignty — 67

In 2024, military spending reached 8.8% of GDP (USD 46.5 billion), the largest increase since 1967 (an increase of 65% per year, SIPRI, Statista, The Globalist, Times of Israel); the forecast until 2030 is about 11% of annual GDP. The Israeli Armed Forces (IDF, for 2025): 634,500 people (169,500 regular soldiers, 465,000 reservists, about 8,000 in aviation/ navy/ special forces); the largest mobilization reserve among developed countries.

The IDF is one of the most technologically advanced armies in the world: armed with unique UAVs, missile defense systems (Iron Dome, David's Sling, Arrow), its own and foreign tanks (Merkava IV, David), the latest aircraft (F-35I Adir, F-16I), high-precision weapons, cyber and electronic warfare, diplomatic mission systems, missile forces, satellites. 70-80% of weapons, equipment and ammunition are produced nationally (Elbit, Israel Aerospace IAI, Rafael); some are licensed and designed for international R&D projects (F-35, submarines from Germany, PRO-cooperation with the United States).

It is completely under the control of the Israeli border guards, the army, and special services; there is a network of physical, electronic, radio, and surveillance facilities, cyber monitoring, reliance on barriers, and patrols integrated with aviation and the navy. The classic mobilization army — up to 465,000 permanent reservists, +170,000 regular military personnel; the reserve was massively mobilized in 2023-2024, integrated into the IDF structure.

Autonomy is maximum: Israel does not belong to military blocs, critical decisions are completely national; there is a strategic partnership with the United States (joint exercises, R&D, missile defense, technology exchange, direct defense loans/grants), but without alliances.

Our own well-developed military industry – Elbit, Rafael, IAI, IMI, state/private factories across the entire range of weapons (from small arms to satellites and cyber weapons), annual exports of over USD 14 billion.

Israel does not officially recognize the nuclear status, but according to expert circles (SIPRI, Wikipedia, mass media) — 80-400 warheads, all equipped in-house, full operational strategic autonomy. It has its own satellite grouping (Ofek, Amos, Eros series), military space, special forces of military intelligence (AMAN, Mossad, Shin Bet), cyber structures, operational and strategic autonomy for all types of intelligence.

All parameters are reflected in the annual reports of SIPRI, UNODA, the Ministry of Defense, the official portals of state-owned companies (Embraer, IMBEL) and industry databases of UN/NGO – 95% coverage

Final Summary Table

The main conclusions

Strengths. Technological and innovative autonomy: No. 1 in R&D (6.3% of GDP), independent production of chips, robotics, medicines, software and weapons, high-tech exports — more than 70 billion USD/year, integration of startups and government projects.

Economic and monetary stability: GDP per capita (PPP) — ~50-56 thousand USD, gold and foreign exchange reserves — 230 billion USD, independent Bank of Israel, high share of settlements in national currency, strict credit policy.

Military and strategic power: up to 70-80% of weapons are national production, 635 thousand. mobilizable, defense and space, missile defense, nuclear and satellite capabilities (80-400 warheads, its own satellite grouping, cyber and military intelligence).

High human capital and education: HE coverage is 44%+, 35% of graduates are STEM, literacy is 97-100%, 4,000+ national grants and talent programs annually. Major cultural and historical capital: 9 UNESCO sites, unique religious and humanistic traditions, state support for identity and small nations, one of the highest levels of public involvement in culture and education in the world.

Weaknesses. Internal instability and socio-cultural polarization: Disagreements on judicial reform, military and secular/religious conflicts, mass protests and pre-crisis indicators. Demographic and infrastructural challenges: Population growth (especially in sectors with low labor involvement), uneven infrastructural/territorial load, tension with small and Bedouin communities.

High militarization and dependence on the defense race: Defense spending of 8.8% of GDP (2024), direct losses from conflicts and hostilities (minus 3.5% of GDP in the second quarter of 2025), depreciation of the reserve, the risk of depletion of air defense and the need for external supplies.

IT/chip vulnerability: Despite local R&D and manufacturing facilities, some critical electronics and components for the military-industrial complex and the cyber industry are purchased on the global market.

Dependence on global markets and allies: U.S. support (military loans, technology exchange) is critical for strategic autonomy; loss of active support or embargo reduces operational capacity

Overall assessment. The cumulative Israeli Sovereignty Index is 501 out of 700 points (high — 71.6%), which places the country in the top 50 in the world.

Israel is the most technologically and defensively independent state in the Middle East with absolute monetary, innovative and cultural autonomy, a modern army, independent science, an extensive education system, a large diaspora and stable public administration.

The main limitations are high militarization, structural internal turbulence, resource burden, and foreign policy vulnerability to blockade and protracted military conflicts.

The sovereignty profile indicates that Israel in 2025 is characterized by maximum state-legal, monetary, defense and technological autonomy among the countries of the region, while maintaining high political conflict and unconditional orientation towards national interests, even as opposed to global institutions.