Title: 'Israel's secret is its chutzpah': the role of chutzpah in Israel's entrepreneurship and innovation scene - an interpretive essay

Authors: Eyal Inbar

Addresses: School of Business, The College of Management Academic Studies, Rishon LeZion, Israel

Abstract: The paper offers a unique explanation for Israel's success as the 'Start-up Nation' and for Israelis' drive for innovation. It analyses the phenomenon of chutzpah, referred to by Israel's former President Shimon Peres as 'Israel's secret'¹ as a Jewish/Israeli trait which encourages entrepreneurship and innovation in that country. This explanation focuses on a national Jewish/Israeli culture and not on the eco-system developed by the government, the effective VC industry, Israel's geo-strategic situation and other explanations offered by the literature.

Keywords: Israel; chutzpah; national culture; innovation; entrepreneurship.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2023.131271

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2023 Vol.34 No.1, pp.58 - 74

Received: 17 May 2019
Accepted: 19 Jan 2020
Published online: 05 Jun 2023 *

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