Food self sufficiency unfeasible for Israel, new research shows

George Mihalcea

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement last September that worldwide hostility to Israel could force it to become a globally isolated “super-Sparta” with “autarkic features” – meaning little or no engagement with international trade – is mistaken and unfeasible, at least when it comes to feeding the nation. A new Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) study has revealed that while Israel could technically sustain itself through local vegetative food production, the economic price would be