‘Science for survival’: biotechnology regulation in Israel

Despite its small size, Israel is a global player in biotechnology. This has been made possible by Government initiatives, and by a permissive regulatory framework. Especially at the level of discourse, Israelis generally employ a positive attitude to science and technologies that are controversial elsewhere. In this article, we discuss regulation in agricultural and human biotechnology and argue that the absence of public controversies is because of certain cultural, religious and political narratives that construct biotechnology as crucial for the continuity of Jewish existence in the region. We also discuss possible paths of future policy making in the field.