IGI

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Our Features

The Israel Global Initiative (I.G.I.) is a joint initiative of Topaz International and TAG International Development, a British-American organization dedicated to supporting disadvantaged communities worldwide. Rooted in Jewish values and committed to practical global impact, I.G.I. was launched in 2015 to research, demonstrate, and advocate for the wider application of Israeli expertise in international development.

I.G.I. seeks to ensure that the knowledge Israel has accumulated over seven decades - in areas such as sustainable agriculture, water management, public health, emergency response, community development, and immigration absorption - is recognized internationally as a valuable asset for accelerating development in low- and middle-income countries.

The initiative was launched in the same year that the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - a global framework calling for the eradication of poverty, the reduction of inequalities, and the advancement of social, cultural, economic, and civil rights for all. Israel’s rapid development under challenging circumstances makes it a unique microcosm of innovation and human resilience, offering relevant and transferable approaches to many of the challenges highlighted by the SDGs.

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Why Israel’s Capabilities Matter

Israel’s development experience is distinctive for several reasons:

It has constructed effective infrastructures for development cooperation and knowledge transfer in diverse regions.
Its multilingual professional workforce reflects the global mosaic of Israel’s society, enabling culturally adapted engagements.
It has deep experience in capacity-building and locally grounded training models that respond quickly to needs emerging from the field.
It has demonstrated how a country can overcome severe internal and external pressures and reach advanced levels of development within a relatively short period.

I.G.I.’s purpose is to identify, document, and translate this body of knowledge into accessible resources and partnerships for international development actors.

Innovation Land - I.G.I.’s First Major Enterprise

The first flagship initiative of I.G.I. was the development and publication of the book originally titled Innovation Land – A Look at What Israel Can Offer the World, later published in 2022 as A Light from Zion: Why Israeli Innovation Matters to the World (authors: Yossi Ives, editor: Michael Naftali).

The book presents a comprehensive and evidence-based review of Israel’s journey from poverty and scarcity to resilience and technological leadership. It shows that Israel’s success resulted from deliberate problem-solving in response to urgent needs - including food security, water scarcity, mass immigration, and persistent security threats. Rather than being rooted in ideal conditions, these innovations arose from hardship, adaptability, and collective determination.

Central to the book’s thesis is the belief that knowledge and experience grow through sharing. Many of Israel’s most important contributions - climate-smart agriculture, desalination and water reuse, innovative health systems, trauma and rehabilitation models, youth development, and inclusion of vulnerable populations - are already being utilized internationally and are ready for wider adoption.

The book argues that waiting for perfection before engaging globally would be a mistake with a profound human cost. While Israel continues to address its own societal challenges, it can simultaneously play a positive and practical role in improving conditions elsewhere.

Structured for real-world usability, the book combines:

Foundational chapters on the cultural and institutional drivers of Israel’s development
Sectoral chapters presenting specific innovations relevant to the SDGs
Case studies demonstrating successful implementation in developing countries

The result is both an accessible resource and a strategic invitation to collaboration.

A Platform for Global Good

Innovation Land positions Israel not merely as a high-tech nation, but as a country with practical solutions to some of the world’s most persistent challenges. Its message is straightforward: When knowledge that has already improved millions of lives is shared more widely, global progress can accelerate dramatically.

As the foundational initiative of I.G.I., the book established a clear direction for the organization - building partnerships that translate Israeli expertise into global impact, grounded in shared benefit, respect, and a commitment to human dignity.

The Global Context: Migration, Development, and Converging Crises

The Altneuland Initiative emerges in a world experiencing profound structural changes that shape both human mobility and the possibilities for sustainable development. Migration is no longer an episodic crisis, and development is no longer a distant aspiration. Instead, overlapping global pressures – armed conflict, underdevelopment, environmental degradation, demographic shifts, economic exclusion, technological divides, and governance failures – work together to transform societies and challenge existing systems. Understanding this global context is essential for appreciating the need for a comprehensive migration–development framework such as Altneuland.

Migration as a Structural Global Transformation

Human mobility today has reached its highest levels since the aftermath of the Second World War. People move across borders and within their own countries because their survival, dignity, and futures are under threat. For many, migration is not a choice but a necessity driven by conflict, persecution, poverty, climate stress, environmental degradation, technological disparities, demographic pressure, or weakened governance structures.

These movements are not isolated events. They reshape labor markets, strain health and education systems, accelerate urbanization, reshape political landscapes, and challenge municipalities and national governments. Yet despite their scale and persistence, migration dynamics are still frequently framed as temporary “crises,” limiting the ability of states and the international system to build durable, development-oriented solutions.

Recognizing migration as a structural and predictable feature of modern life is a necessary step toward designing effective long-term strategies that align humanitarian protection, development planning, and social cohesion.

Development Gaps and the SDGs

Alongside rising migration pressures are enduring and, in some places, widening development gaps. Large populations continue to lack access to education, healthcare, infrastructure, livelihoods, and environmental security. Under-industrialization, fragile governance, demographic growth, and climate vulnerability limit the ability of many countries to progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

These gaps are not merely statistical shortcomings – they translate into everyday realities of insecurity, poverty, food instability, limited opportunity, and institutional weakness. Development failures undermine global markets, deepen inequality, fuel social tensions, and contribute to regional instability.

In an interdependent world, development is not optional. It is a global necessity, affecting public health, environmental sustainability, economic systems, governance, and long-term peace.

Root Causes: Conflict, Climate, Economics, Governance, Inequality

Displacement rarely stems from a single cause. Instead, it emerges from converging forces – armed conflict and persecution; political repression and weak governance; corruption, authoritarianism, and fragile institutions; climate change, desertification, drought, floods, and environmental degradation; economic exclusion, under-industrialization, and limited diversification; and widening social and spatial inequalities.

Technological divides exacerbate these pressures by excluding large segments of society from access to information, digital opportunities, and financial services.

These underlying forces interact cumulatively, eroding social stability, narrowing opportunity, and reducing long-term resilience. A serious response to migration therefore requires a serious engagement with development challenges and structural drivers.

Why Humanitarian Aid Alone Fails

Humanitarian assistance is indispensable. It saves lives, provides immediate protection, and offers essential support during acute crises. Yet the scale and duration of contemporary displacement mean that humanitarian systems are consistently overstretched, asked to provide long-term solutions they were never designed to deliver.

Camps intended as short-term shelters become long-term settlements. Emergency programs lacking development components fail to address root causes or build pathways to stability. Without investment in institutions, livelihoods, education, environmental resilience, governance, and reconciliation, communities remain vulnerable, marginalized, and trapped in protracted uncertainty.

When humanitarian response is not integrated with development strategies, host communities also suffer. Their infrastructures, services, and social fabric are placed under increasing strain, often without adequate resources or planning.

Humanitarian aid must therefore be complemented – and progressively accompanied – by integrated development systems capable of addressing structural needs and supporting both displaced and host communities over the long term.

Migration–Development Interdependence

Migration and development exist in a deep, reciprocal relationship. In contexts where development fails – where institutions are fragile, livelihoods scarce, services inadequate, and environmental threats acute – people are more likely to migrate out of necessity. Development breakdown fuels displacement.

At the same time, unmanaged or unsupported migration can burden already fragile systems in host communities. Without preparation, investment, integration strategies, and mechanisms for social cohesion, rapid demographic change can destabilize labor markets, intensify competition for resources, and strain municipal services.

However, when development systems are strong, inclusive, and adaptive, migration can become a driver of innovation and growth. Migrants contribute skills, culture, entrepreneurship, and economic dynamism. Host communities benefit from strengthened institutions, expanded services, and increased social and economic exchange.

Thus, sustainable development cannot be achieved without addressing migration, and effective migration management cannot succeed without addressing development. They must be understood – and acted upon – as an integrated field.

The Five Analytical Dimensions of Altneuland

Altneuland responds to this global landscape by adopting a comprehensive analytical framework – fully integrated into the program’s design – that brings together five core dimensions:

Foundational Understanding of Core Phenomena

This includes multidisciplinary research on forced displacement, extreme poverty, systemic marginalization, technological inequalities, and the socio-economic and environmental dynamics that shape mobility and underdevelopment. It integrates theoretical analysis with real-world field experience to ensure practical relevance.

Drivers and Root Causes

This dimension focuses on the systemic forces that produce displacement and fragility: climate change, environmental degradation, political instability, repression, conflict, violence, under-industrialization, and economic exclusion. Altneuland’s work deliberately addresses these drivers rather than only their symptoms.

Strategic Action Dimension

Analysis must be translated into practice. The initiative uses integrated Co-Impact Alliances, Impact Governance frameworks, C.A.R.E. strategies (Capacity building, Action, Research, Engagement), Integrated Development Strategies (IDS), and ethical AI tools for predictive planning, monitoring, and adaptive systems.

Results Framework and SDG Alignment

Altneuland insists on rigorous monitoring, evaluation, transparency, and accountability. All initiatives link directly to SDG benchmarks, ensuring measurable outcomes for both host and displaced communities and enabling iterative improvement.

The Peace and Reconciliation Nexus

Development and migration responses are not complete without mechanisms for dialogue, trust building, and healing. Altneuland integrates reconciliation, trauma-informed practice, and social cohesion frameworks into all levels of planning, treating peace not as a separate category but as a cross cutting pillar essential for long-term stability.