The "Iron Dome" defense system is "Israel's invention"

The "70 Blue and White Israel's Greatest Inventions" competition, initiated by the Ministry of Economy, came to an end with the selection of the "Iron Dome" system as the country's invention, with the participation of 115,000 surfers. In second place - waze, and in third place, with a difference of only 12 votes from second place - the drops

The Iron Dome defense system is the big winner in the Ministry of Economy's surfing contest - the invention of the state. In second place, the surfers chose waze technology, and in third place the drippers.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel, the Ministry of Economy and Industry put up for the public's choice the groundbreaking products and technologies that have been initiated and developed in Israel throughout its years of existence. As part of the competition, in the last few weeks, 70 of the inventions were up for public selection online, of which the public chose the "Iron Dome" system as the leading invention.

The competition was conducted in two stages - in the first stage, over 52,000 surfers chose, out of 70 inventions, the 9 finalist inventions from a variety of categories, and in the second stage, over 63,000 additional surfers chose the state's invention, in the following order (stage data The second):

• Iron Dome - 28% of the votes
• Waze – 17.77%
• Droppers - 17.75%
• USB flash drive – 10.96%
• Robot to assist in surgeries - 8.18%
• Watergen (water production) – 8.08%
• Root sandals - 4.38%
• Check Point – 2.69%
• Ofek - 2.18%

Iron Dome - The missile and rocket interception system, the only one of its kind, which was developed in 2007, is considered one of the most important and influential local inventions, chosen by over 100 thousand surfers, as the country's invention.

The system was developed by the Ministry of Defense, Mapat, through the government company Rafael, in collaboration with the company Elta, which developed the system's radar, and the company Emprest, which developed the command and control system. Teams of hundreds of engineers from different fields took part in the relatively fast development process.

Since the deployment of Iron Dome, the system has intercepted over 1,700 missiles and rockets fired at the State of Israel from various sectors. The success rate of the system during Operation "Tzuk Eitan" in 2014 was about 90%. The savings that Iron Dome allows for the Israeli economy are estimated in the billions, since it allows for a routine of life and continuous management of the economy in times of emergency and war, and of course a significant reduction in injury to life and property. The sense of personal security it instills in the citizens of Israel is difficult to measure in numbers.

Minister of Economy and Industry, Eli Cohen:During its years of existence, Israel has become a world power in all that concerns entrepreneurship and technological and scientific innovation. The audacity, the ideas and the inventions that originate from the country's existential need in its early years to protect and sustain itself with its own forces, broke out into the entire world and turned Israel into a technological hotbed for the entire world. I am sure that the Israeli qualities, including original thinking, boldness, quick adaptation to changing conditions and the ability to bypass artificial barriers are helpful and will help us continue to bring the news of Israeli entrepreneurship and innovation to the world in the future as well. There is no denying that the inventions that have just been chosen in the competition by the public as the leading inventions, are excellent examples of the Israeli ability to invent, think and innovate, which provide solutions to fundamental challenges, are an inspiration to the entire world and a lot of national pride for Israel. The Ministry of Economy and Industry is proud to present and share with the public through the "Israel's Inventions" competition the wide variety of inventions, innovations and technologies that Israel's unique human capital has brought to the world during the years of the state so far."

In second place -  waze - The collaborative navigation software that was invented by Ehud Shabtai in 2006, and which in 2008, together with two other entrepreneurs, Amir Shanar and Uri Levin, became a social navigation application based on the wisdom of the masses. In 2013, it was purchased by the global company Google, and became the most expensive application sold By then.

In third place - The "droppers" - The crop irrigation system which was developed in 1959 by Simcha and Yeshayahu Blas and Rafi Mehodar. The drip irrigation technology, which was discovered by chance, was soon adopted by Kibbutz Hatzeri in the Negev, whose system met their needs for efficient and water-saving irrigation. The system, which on the one hand allows for a significant increase in agricultural output and on the other hand for a significant saving of water, quickly became commercial, and is sold to this day by the Netafim company to many countries in the world. This is how the initial vision of the developers together with Netafim to provide a solution to the water shortage in Israel and the whole world was realized.

The 70 inventions that were chosen by the public on the web in the "Israel's Inventions" competition were chosen from a long list of inventions that were developed and created throughout the years of the country's existence, and they are from a variety of industries and fields of industry. For the purpose of selecting the list of groundbreaking inventions, a steering committee was established at the Innovation Authority which defined criteria for its selection. The list of these inventions will appear in the book "Israeli innovation - groundbreaking products that changed the world" which will be published soon at the initiative of the Ministry of Economy and Industry.