I’m not even going to bother starting this article with a list of all the problems Israel faced this year. We all know how bad it’s been and how many difficulties we’ve all experienced and there will be end-of-year lists aplenty that will fill you with gloom and doom.

Instead, this article is all about the good.

Because, whether you realize it or not, 2024 had a lot of positive things to offer.

To borrow an idea from writer Charles Dickens who jumpstarted his famous novel, A Tale of Two Cities, with the sentence: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…,” even in periods of despair and suffering, you will find joy and hope.

I hope that when you finish reading this article, you’ll have a little more lightness in your step and hope in your heart.

If you have other reasons that haven’t been included here, do let us know. It’s so important to share good news. And we are still waiting for the best news of all – that the hostages are finally coming home.

1. Israel became a nation of volunteers

In a crisis, you are going to want an Israeli on your side. In times of difficulty, Israelis have a way of stepping up to help that goes way beyond the norm.

In the last hard year when so many people have been struggling, Israelis of all walks of life rushed to provide comfort, help and very real support.

Whether you were a farmer who couldn’t get the crop in on time, the partner of a reservist struggling to support the family, or a business from the north or south in trouble, Israelis rushed in their hundreds of thousands to help. You name it, and someone was there to help.

During the first two weeks of the October war, more than 1,000 civil initiatives emerged across Israel and 48.6% of the Israeli population engaged in volunteering, according to a report from the Institute for the Study of Civil Society and Philanthropy in Israel at Hebrew University.

It was also volunteers who helped save Israel’s agricultural industry, which suffered heavily in the wake of the Hamas attack, and helped keep the country fed.

2. Aid groups helped all over the world

You might think that a country experiencing war would turn all its attention inwards. And though many new aid projects did focus on Israel, locally based international humanitarian aid organizations continued to send out dedicated and trained staff to help in all sorts of crisis situations.

In January, SmartAID sent help to earthquake-hit Japan, then to Taiwan after another earthquake in April. In October, SmartAID provided solar power units and communication systems to communities in Florida and North Carolina in the wake of two devastating hurricanes, Helene and Milton.

In June, IsraAID sent help to Papua New Guinea after a deadly landslide. It also continued to integrate psychological support into the Ukrainian health system, expand access to safe water in Ukraine, and drill new bore holes in Kenya after the country suffered its worst drought in 40 years.

3. The south is rebuilding

When Hamas attacked the Israeli southwest on October 7, the terror group devastated the Israeli villages and towns near Gaza, killing, torturing and kidnapping residents, and destroying property, infrastructure and agriculture.

The residents of the area were forced to evacuate, and the endless missile attacks on the region, plus the heavy presence of Israel’s military, meant going back even after several months was not an option.

It’s been a slow process, but the south is finally rebuilding. Destroyed buildings are being bulldozed and rebuilt, volunteers are cleaning and clearing, residents are returning, businesses reopening, and plans are already underway to help the south not only return to what it was, but to become something better.

So many new initiatives are underway – some to repair and renew the local agriculture through innovative robotic greenhouses, or tequila farms; others to rebuild communities including a plan to build the largest resilience center; more still to bring high-tech jobs to the region; and another to set up a new industrial park.

It’s necessary, vital work, and deeply heartening to see.

4. The north is awakening too

Since the ceasefire with Hezbollah went into effect on November 27, the north has also been seeing signs of gradual recovery.

Like the Gaza envelope communities, tens of thousands of residents of the north were forced to leave their homes and businesses overnight in fear of an October 7- style attack, and as their communities became shooting galleries for Hezbollah.

The recovery remains hesitant as the ceasefire is still considered precarious, and a vast swath of the northern border remains a closed military area. But progress is definitely beginning as citizens of the north begin to return home, communities regroup, farms get back to normal, businesses reopen, and rebuilding begins.

Some hotels are reopening, as are national parks like Lake Hula that have been closed for months. Environmental experts are also finally getting a look at the huge expanses of countryside destroyed by wildfires sparked by missile attacks, so they can make plans for rehabilitating nature.

5. Israel’s air defense was extraordinary

Yes, there were mishaps, and yes, guarding against drone attack turned out to be harder than anyone could imagine, but there can be no doubt that Israel’s air defense systems more than proved themselves in the last 15 months.

According to Rafael CEO Yoav Turgeman, the Iron Dome and David’s Sling systems intercepted more targets than all other air defense systems combined in the past 50 years.

Just think about the two Iranian missile attacks in April and October – the largest ballistic missile strikes in history – and how Israel, with help from its friends, managed successfully to prevent any serious strikes.

In October this year, the IDF announced that since October 7, there had been 26,000 rockets, missiles and drones launched at Israel from multiple fronts. Some 13,200 were from Gaza, 12,400 from Lebanon, 400 from Iran, 180 from Yemen and 60 from Syria.

In the last two months, many more have been fired, and Yemen continues to fire ballistic missiles at Israel.

Thank heavens for our air defenses. Without them, we possibly couldn’t survive.

6. Israel got a new airline

After a year in which most foreign carriers declined to fly to Israel at various times, making travel in and out of the country either a stressful and uncertain proposition, or a pricey endeavor thanks to El Al opportunistically raising its prices, it was good news to hear that a new airline has been born.

Air Haifa, the first new airline in Israel for 35 years, aims to provide services for the north of Israel. Its first destination was Cyprus, but it has already announced that it plans to start flights to Athens too.

Initially, the airline began operating flights from Ben-Gurion Airport, because of Hezbollah missile attacks in the north of Israel. But from December 22, it will commence operations from Haifa, as planned, with three daily flights to Larnaca.

A new route between Haifa and Athens will open on January 2, with five flights a week.

7. It was a year of medals

Well, first of all, Israel managed to break its record at this year’s Olympics, bringing home seven medals, more than it has ever won at one Olympic Games. On one day alone, the country won three medals.

It wasn’t the country’s biggest delegation, either. Three of the medals were for judo, two for sailing, and two for gymnastics.

And since we mentioned volunteering: While in training for the Olympics, silver medal winner Inbar Lanir also volunteered to cook and take care of the children of a neighbor whose husband was on reserve duty, while silver medal-winning gymnast Artem Dolgopyat returned after the Olympics to volunteer for those affected by the October 7 attack, and even sold off his medal to use the proceeds to help southern towns. You get the picture.

Israel also won 10 medals at the Paralympics.

In addition, this year Israeli fencer Yuval Freilich won the gold medal in the Doha Grand Prix in Qatar; Israeli teens took home two gold medals and one bronze from the World Youth Windsurfing Championship; and Nili Block won her seventh world title in martial arts.

8. Eden Golan placed fifth at Eurovision

Perhaps fifth place in the Eurovision Song Contest doesn’t sound like much of a victory, but when Eden Golan reached that position in May, the whole of Israel celebrated.

In the leadup to this competition there had been so much hostility and anti-Israel sentiment. There was talk of a boycott, the original version of the song was rejected as too political, Golan had to remain in her hotel under security escort during the competition, and some members of the crowd loudly booed as she performed.

But she did perform, and she performed amazingly, and the song – whether in its original format or the changed one – still had the power to move.

Because of the controversy we all expected her to come in last, so fifth place was a definite win. And afterwards a Lebanese singer, horrified by the crowd reaction, honored her with an Arabic version of the song.

9. Israel’s researchers didn’t stop for a second

Despite the difficulties, both internally and externally with a hostile world academia that sometimes boycotted the country, Israeli researchers continued to make significant discoveries that are likely to have a profound impact on the quality of our lives in the years ahead.

There were breakthroughs in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, a new Covid vaccine,

the world’s first test tube testes, and much more. You can read about the top 24 research breakthroughs in 2024 here.

10. Israeli scientists won a lot of international recognition

We can’t begin to list them all, but here are some of the highlights.

  • The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) selected Technion Prof. Alon Gany to receive its prestigious Wyld Propulsion Award for 2025.
  • In December, the King Baudouin Foundation in Belgium awarded the Rousseeuw Prize (equivalent to a Nobel) to Prof. Yoav Benjamini, Prof. Daniel Yekutieli, and Prof. Ruth Heller from the Department of Statistics and Operations Research at Tel Aviv University (TAU) for their pioneering work on the False Discovery Rate (FDR). Interestingly, the award ceremony was held at the Catholic University of Leuven, where students and professors are calling for a full academic boycott of Israeli universities.
  • Prof. Hagit Messer-Yaron, from TAU, won the 2024 IEEE Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies, considered the Nobel Prize of the engineering world.
  • Prof. Ehud Gazit from TAU was one of the recipients of this year’s Meitner-Humboldt Research Award, a prize awarded by Germany to outstanding scientists based abroad.
  • Israeli mathematician Avi Wigderson from Princeton University received the 2023 Turing Award for Outstanding Contributions in Computer Science for his work on understanding how randomness can improve and shape computer algorithms.
  • Prof. Haim Sompolinsky, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was awarded the Brain Prize for 2024. This is the largest and most prestigious international prize for brain research.
  • Prof. Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus was given the United Arab Emirates Khalifa Award for Education for her research on how children learn to read.
  • Prof. Dan Peer, vice president of R&D at TAU, was elected a fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors. Fellow is the highest recognition given by the academy to innovators whose inventions have had a decisive impact on quality of life.

11. Israel’s universities win accolades

12. Cybertech racks up all-time records

While Israel’s high-tech industry saw a slowdown over the last two years, firstly because of the Israeli government’s plans for judicial overhaul, and then because of October 7 and the ensuing war, Israel’s cybersecurity industry went from strength to strength.

In 2024, the industry raised $4 billion across 75 transactions. That’s more than a twofold increase compared to 2023, when companies raised $1.85b. in 59 transactions, according to statistics published by early-stage cybertech VC Glilot Capital Partners.

The two biggest cybertech deals of the year were Wiz, which raised $1b., and Cyera, which raised $600m.

Mergers and acquisitions in this sector also saw a leap, with 20 deals valued together at $4.8b. Interestingly, many of the acquisitions were of large Israeli cyber firms buying out other local companies.

I3. Israel is an AI powerhouse

AI firms now account for 30 percent of Israel’s 7,000+ startups, but are bringing in 47% of all investment, according to Startup Nation Central.

According to the report, Israel is rapidly establishing itself as a global leader in AI innovation, especially in healthcare, climate tech and robotics, as well as cybersecurity and agrifood (agriculture and food production, processing, and distribution).

There are currently some 2,170 AI startups in Israel today.

Global tech giants, including NVIDIA, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple, are investing heavily in the country’s AI ecosystem and Israel is home to more than 400 multinational research centers.

14. Predicting medical emergencies BEFORE they happen

It sounds a little like something out of the film “Minority Report” except that in this case, instead of being able to predict when a crime will happen, this new AI can predict when a medical emergency will happen.

Developed by Israel’s voluntary first-response organization United Hatzalah and veterans of the Israel Defense Forces 8200 intelligence unit, the AI creates city-specific predictive models based on 18 years of historical emergency data.

Using this information, the AI calculates risk factors and predicts where emergency medical events might potentially occur. Emergency responders are sent to these high-risk areas before the incidents occur.

A three-month pilot program showed that the system achieved an 85% accuracy rate in predicting locations and times of emergency events. How amazingly cool is this! More on this to come.

15. First pilot wave energy project launched

Israel officially launched its first wave energy power plant in Jaffa Port in December.

The pilot project, developed by Eco Wave Power (EWP), uses floating platforms with hydraulic pumps to convert the swell of the sea waves into electricity.

These are still baby steps – the project has 10 floaters, which can each produce enough electricity to power 10 homes – but these are definitely steps in the right direction.

Wave energy provides a more reliable and consistent power source than solar or wind, simply because the sea is in constant motion, while the sun sets and the wind drops. Eco Wave Power is the brainchild of entrepreneur Inna Braverman.

16. First Israeli quantum computer unveiled

The quantum industry may still be little understood by regular people, but its significance cannot be underestimated. Israel got off to a slow start with quantum technologies, but since then has been working rapidly not only to fill the gap, but to leap past it to take a lead.

There are currently around 20 or so companies in this field in Israel, and some are already emerging as trailblazers.

In December, Israel unveiled its first domestically built quantum computer, powered by superconductor technology.  The computer is the work of Israel Aerospace Industries, the Israel Innovation Authority and Hebrew University. This strategic knowledge foundation will support both civilian and defense applications.

17. Original art has gone back on museum walls

On October 7, 2023, even as missiles rained down across Israel, a special emergency team arrived at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and began taking the most valuable masterpieces off the walls and into storage.

Works by Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon, René Magritte, Gustav Klimt, and Georgia O’Keeffe, to name a few, were taken down to protected rooms to ensure their safety.

Similar procedures were done also at the Israel Museum and the National Library in Jerusalem.

On December 17, 14 months later, the artworks at the Tel Aviv Museum were finally returned to their galleries for everyone to enjoy. A sign of hope that this awful war may finally be coming to an end.

Incidentally, despite the challenges, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art was recently ranked 75th on the list of the 100 most popular museums in the world, according to the international art magazine The Art Newspaper.

18. Tel Aviv has one of the world’s best breakfasts

Anyone who has ever eaten breakfast in a restaurant or hotel in Israel knows that the country has some of the best breakfasts in the world, so it didn’t come as too much of a surprise to learn that one of Tel Aviv’s hotels has been included on Condé Nast Traveler’s ranking of the top 14 hotel breakfasts in the world in 2024.

The five-star David Kempinski Tel Aviv hotel was picked out for the honor alongside other famous hotels in Berlin, Paris and New York.

19. People still believe in peace and coexistence

As you can imagine, it’s been a tough year for organizations that focus on Arab and Jewish coexistence. And yet so many of these initiatives have managed not only to survive, but to continue to thrive.

Whether it was a mixed group of religious leaders meeting for respectful conversation, or a Palestinian high-tech mentorship program, or a school dedicated to fostering leaders, or kids playing tennis, or an Arab influencer volunteering at an Israeli hospital, the message is clear: Even in the midst of war, Israelis from all walks of life, and all religions, will continue to work for peace.

20. Upheaval and war sparks new Arab-Israeli solidarity with Israel  

According to a new survey released in December, 57.8 percent of Arab-Israelis believe that the ongoing war in Gaza has fostered a sense of shared destiny between Arabs and Jews in Israel, a statistically significant shift in the attitude of Arab Israelis to the war, and potentially a serious opening for change.

The research, carried out by the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University (TAU), also showed that a majority of the Arab population – almost 72% – support the inclusion of an Arab party in the government formed after the next elections.

“The war between Israel and Hamas is the longest in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” says Dr. Arik Rudnitzky, project manager of the Adenauer Program at the Dayan Center. “It appears, however, that under the dark shadow cast by the war over all citizens of Israel, both Arabs and Jews, meaningful bright spots are emerging that could redefine the rules of the game in the post-war era.”