ISRAEL’S NOACH HACKER ON THE RESILIENCE OF THE ISRAELI ECONOMY IN TIMES OF WAR - Join the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative and GeoEconomics Center for a conversation with Minister of Economic Affairs at the Israeli Embassy Noach Hacker on the resilience of the Israeli economy during wartime.

After Hamas’s terrorist attacks and the wars that followed, many predicted that the Israeli economy would collapse, that small businesses would go bankrupt as reservists were called up, and that foreign trade and investment would dry up. But last year, the Economist ranked Israel as the sixth-best performing economy, and in the first quarter of 2025, Israel’s gross domestic product grew by 3.4 percent, higher than the US rate. Why were these experts so wrong, and why did the Israeli economy prove so surprisingly resilient?

In a conversation moderated by GeoEconomics Center Senior Director Josh Lipsky, Hacker will discuss the strategies that have allowed Israel’s economy to endure amid several conflicts.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 07/22/2025