Forget hasbara: Wine is Israel’s answer to economic isolation – Opinion: Self-reliance is not a slogan. It’s receipts. It’s exports. It’s jobs. It’s sovereignty. Planting vineyards is planting freedom – and wine is Israel’s economic weapon against isolation | ynetglobal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally admitted it: Israel is economically isolated. He dressed it up in talk of “self-reliance,” but let’s not kid ourselves. What it means is sanctions chatter, investors holding back, tourism gutted and exporters paying higher premiums just to ship goods abroad.
The polite term is “isolation.” The truth is economic siege. And here’s the question no one in government seems willing to ask: what industry is going to pull us out? What product can we grow, make and sell to the world that both creates jobs here and commands respect abroad? I’ll say what I’ve been saying for the last nine years: it’s wine.