Why Israel’s Domestic Affairs are Failing: Maslow’s Pyramid ‘Curse’

While most everyone’s attention has focused on Israel’s ongoing security issues (Gaza, Yemen, Syria et al), the domestic situation – governmental, economic, judicial, social – is actually more problematic. Why, then, does a country known for its vibrant innovation and social resilience keep running into serious problems at home?

The list is unfortunately long: a dearth of thousands of teachers in the educational system; almost daily murders in the Arab sector with a very low percentage of arrests, not to mention very minimal convictions; court cases that take forever to resolve (e.g., Bibi’s trial is now in its sixth year!); and a fast-rising national debt along with the country’s very high cost-of-living.

The answer comes down to a field hardly ever mentioned in the news: human psychology. In this case, Abraham Maslow’s famous pyramid of needs – among academics, a “pyramid” as famous as the ones in Egypt. However, in this case it’s not a physical pyramid but rather a hierarchy of human necessities. Unfortunately, Israel’s attention is stuck near the bottom.
Maslow’s pyramid is all about what motivates people – and by extension, societies. Near the pyramid’s base are basic survival issues like food and shelter; you won’t live long if these are threatened. But immediately above that (some would say, as important) are security and safety – here too critical for preserving one’s life. Atop that, Maslow posits three more needs in ascending order i.e., we usually don’t try to fill the one above until the one below is guaranteed: first, belonging and love (family, friendship, connection); then self-esteem (confidence, achievement); and finally at the top is self-actualization (creativity, purpose, meaning).

Israel’s (actually, Israelis’) problem is being stuck worrying about security: you can’t chase after the good stuff on top of the pyramid if you’re continually worrying about the basics at the bottom. Over the long term, when that is an almost permanent condition it becomes very difficult to focus on anything else, on the micro and macro levels – not only for the individual but for the governmental system as a whole.

The problem is expressed on two levels: budget and attention. The financial burden is the easier to see and understand. From the establishment of the state in 1948 the country has been under almost constant threat from its surrounding enemies – national armies and terrorist groups. As a result of this ongoing state of affairs, Israel’s governments have had to pour an inordinately large part of the national budget into intelligence (Mossad), internal security (Shabak), and military readiness (Tzahal/IDF). That, in turn, limits the amount that can be devoted to other “higher Maslowian needs”: education, justice, housing, etc.

However, “attention” is also a significant resource that loses out when governments have to focus most of their mental energy on national security. This involves fewer Cabinet sessions on such non-security matters, as well as having less powerful ministers and party legislators running such non-military-related ministries and Knesset committees.

Added to this, of course, is the matter of the media’s attention. Try this mini-experiment: run through today’s Times of Israel news reports; you’ll almost definitely find that at least half are devoted to Israel’s security, writ large. None of Israel’s other national media are any different on this score.

Thus, it isn’t surprising that “security” almost always ranks first in any survey of what concerns individual Israelis. It’s not that the public has been “brainwashed” by the media but rather that the media reflect the citizenry’s ongoing personal and national security concerns.
In such an environment, little public attention is paid to domestic failings (Israelis are notorious for “kvetching” about anything and everything on the personal level, but that usually doesn’t translate much into public protest or policy on such domestic matters). This completes the cycle: with less public concern regarding socio-economic matters, the government becomes less incentivized to deal with Israel’s internal problems in comprehensive fashion.

The result: classrooms are way overcrowded (up to 40 kids per class); teachers are underpaid (leading to far fewer seeking work in education); hundreds of judgeship positions aren’t being filled (ergo endless judicial backlogs and delays, in part because judges have to deal with numerous security-related cases); lack of sufficient police officers, leading to rising crime rates (albeit still relatively low by western standards, despite the high rate among Israel’s Arabs). Yes, Israel has top-notch universities and tech hubs, but a lot of that is also connected (directly or indirectly) to national security, with research largesse devoted more to science and technology (e.g., huge subsidies or tax credits to companies such as Intel) than to the humanities or social sciences.

In short, education, health, justice, and welfare do receive funding in Israel, but rarely enough for deep reforms or ambitious change – things that also demand continual governmental attention.

To be fair, national security is not the only factor here: the structure of the political system plays a role too. Israel’s coalition governments are famously fractious, pulling in different directions to promote their dissimilar political needs and values. As most domestic issues demand coordination among several ministries, having a hydra-headed government of several parties is not a recipe for change or even consistent policymaking. Thus, it’s usually easier for coalition politicians to agree on beefing up security than on fixing domestic problems. The cycle of security-up/domestic-down continues…

All is not bleak, though. In Israel, a very bright spot involves civil society groups and grassroots efforts that step in where the government doesn’t. As of early 2025, Israel has an amazing 77,329 non-profit organizations (https://www.globalgiving.org/atlas/country/israel/). These mostly involve volunteer service in almost every socio-economic area of life: education, elder-care, general health, handicapped, disadvantaged youth, nutrition, etc. etc. Yet, although such non-profits are hugely beneficial to Israeli society, they cannot by themselves substitute for comprehensive governmental action and budgeting.

In sum, Maslow’s pyramid is more than a theory – it’s a lens through which we can see why Israel doesn’t succeed very well (if at all) in solving many of its most pressing domestic problems. It’s “survival” uber alles; when security is always threatened, everything else gets pushed aside.

Given the neutralization of most of Israel’s enemies these past two years, one can hope that domestic policy will begin to receive the attention it deserves. The aspiration is for Israel to become a country where people don’t just survive but also thrive.