The government taxes 29% of the GDP in America.
The government taxes 39% of the GDP in Israel.

Therefore, Israel taxes are 34% higher than American taxes.

Why?

1. It costs a lot to run the only civilized society in the region.
2. They have to import everything they can't make themselves from, mostly, the U.S.
3. It costs a lot to defend your entire nations against every other nation in the region that is bent on your destruction.

Just three off the top of my head.

Actually, you need to deduct $5 billion from US taxes, add it to Israeli taxes, and then re-calculate your GDP %'s.

Then you'll have the TRUE cost of gov't in Israel.

While the $5 billion is comparatively small in the US (yeah - $5 billion is chump change for me personally) its a HUGE part of Israeli GDP.

garand(TheMathematician)man

They pay higher taxes because bulldozing the homes of 500 Palestinian families doesn't come cheap.  And garandman, as for the $5 billion given Israel by the U.S. taxpayers, how else do you expect the Israelis to fund the spies that were caught spying on the U.S.?  Sheesh.  Get a grip, man.

[(:|)]

Don't forget fixed costs and economies of scale.

Israels GDP is a MUCH smaller pie than the USA's. But SOME of the fixed costs of gov't remain the same. That would drive Israel %'s up.

Also, economies are gained with the larger an entity gets. Allowing the larger entity to utilize a more efficient percentage of its GDP.

Theoretically, anyway.

But in reality, I beleive Americas taxed % of GDP is more immoral than Israels.

Example: Assume Israel GDP is $100, and their tax burden is $39 (39%)

Comparatively, USA's GDP is prolly more like 100,000 (1,000 times Israels) and the taxes $29,000. (29%)

So the total tax burden is $29,000 vs. $39 - or almost 750 times as much.

THAT is obscene.

We got problems AT HOME that need takin' care of.

Part of which is sending money ALL OVER the globe.

My mistake.

As I haven't hired a spy lately, its easy to forget the hourly rate they charge.

Can you even get ONE spy for $5 billion these days?? I mean a really good one????

[:D]

Basically one word: Defense.  It needs to be remembered that officially, there is still a state of war between Israel and Syria, Saudia Arabia, Iraq, and probably Lebanon, Libya and Iran.  Until the late 70s and 80s Egypt and Jordan were also on that list as well (I know Jordan signed the peace treaty in the 1990s, but Israel and Jordan have had friendly relations for awhile before that).  

No one brought up the real reason.  Interesting.

The thing is, taxes in Israel now are probably much lower than they've ever been.

The pre independence settlement of Israel was mainly done on an institution called the kibbutz, which was a communal organization.  Everything was held in common, including children.  Many of the original settlers were communist intellectuals who wanted the Jewish state to be a socialist one as well.

Israel's a different country than the US, where our Enlightenment-inspired constitution stresses individual rights. Israel's purpose is to be a homeland for people of the Jewish religion, of the tribe and people, which is more important than the individual. Some Jews are not religious, but are staunchly socialist.

Up until recently, Israel has been a very poor and agraian economy.  With the information revolution, and a turning away from collective ethos of the kibbutz for free enterprise, Israel's become a lot more prosperous. Right-wing governments under MIT-trained Netanyahu and Sharon dont hurt either.