Israel is facing numerous security threats, and yet the country’s most recent round of elections in January focused not on security but on the need to reform a dysfunctional economy and liberate the enterprising spirit of a nation that boasts more startups than Europe. Paradoxically, it was the success of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in stopping West Bank terrorism that gave Israelis the respite to finally tackle economic issues. Nonetheless, Netanyahu’s party, Likud, lost about 25 percent of its voters because of the perception that it had failed to advance necessary reforms.

The election’s big winners were two parties committed to economic reform: the new, middle class, mostly secular “Yesh Atid” (We Have a Future) led by the charismatic Yair Lapid, and the reconstituted observant and patriotic party, “Habayit Hayehudi” (the Jewish Home), led by the successful high-tech entrepreneur, and former Netanyahu chief of staff, Naftali Bennett. Lapid was named finance minister and Bennett now heads the Ministry of the Economy and Trade, which until now mostly assisted Israeli monopolies under the pretext of protecting Israeli jobs. If they manage to coordinate efforts, and get Netanyahu’s backing, they can finally enable Israel’s economy to realize its enormous potential.