Venture Capitalist Judah Taub Launches Moonshots for Israel: 12 Big Ideas for a Small Nation

Venture capitalist Judah Taub published Moonshots for Israel: 12 Big Ideas for a Small Nation on October 5, 2026, laying out a dozen large-scale proposals intended to generate roughly $100 billion each in value and more than $1 trillion collectively for Israel. The book, released by Wicked Son Books with a foreword by Dan Senor, maps actionable plans across defense, energy, education, governance and Israel–Diaspora relations; Taub is founder and managing partner of Hetz Ventures, which manages nearly $500 million in capital.

"The State of Israel itself was a moonshot: an improbable idea made real through courage, ingenuity and relentless execution," Taub writes. "We are at a turning point. The human capital ready for meaningful action is enormous, and the desire to leap ahead is only growing. These are not proposals for academic discussion, but for action—each capable of dramatically changing the trajectory of Israel and the world."

Ambitious proposals with economic and strategic aims

Moonshots for Israel advances 12 programmatic initiatives Taub says have been "stress-tested with experts in the field." Among the proposals are large infrastructure and strategic concepts that blend commercial opportunity with geopolitical influence:

• The Abraham Canal — a sea‑to‑sea commercial corridor linking the Red Sea and Mediterranean to position Israel as a regional crossroads;
• The Eighth Battlefield — a new model for the information war focused on real‑time data, sentiment analysis and measurable outcomes;
• An Iron Dome for Defense Exports — a strategy to scale Israel's defense industry until embargoes carry severe economic and strategic costs for imposing states;
• A Fund to Reverse Jewish Demographic Decline — mechanisms to reduce the cost of observant Jewish life (termed the "Jewish tax") and strengthen Diaspora communities;
• From Water Scarcity to Water Superpower — a plan to export desalinated Israeli water across the Middle East to turn scarcity into trade, cooperation and influence;
• Cheap Energy, Strong Hand — leveraging Israel's natural gas, solar resources and technology sector to create lasting energy abundance and geopolitical leverage.

Taub brings credentials that bridge the private sector and national security. He is a former IDF intelligence officer who received the IDF Creative Thinking Award, serves in the reserves at the intersection of AI and national security, and lectures on creative thinking and AI‑driven innovation at Wharton, Yale and Harvard Business School. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Semafor, Newsweek and Haaretz. The book builds on Taub's bestselling Hebrew work HaPotential HaYisraeli and on themes from his earlier English book, How to Move Up When the Only Way Is Down.

Reception and next steps

President Isaac Herzog has publicly cited ideas from Moonshots for Israel, calling Israel's unrealized potential "tremendous" and urging that "it is crucial to catch this wave." Taub's publisher lists the book in hardcover, trade paperback, eBook and audiobook formats (ISBN 979-8904670238) and says review copies, interviews and event appearances are available on request. Media contact listed for the release is Judy Tashbook Safern at (516) 200-3805.

Taub positions the proposals as actionable items meant to be implemented rather than debated academically. With nearly $500 million under management at Hetz Ventures and networks spanning defense, energy and tech, the author frames his moonshots as practical blueprints for turning national challenges — from water scarcity to demographic trends — into economic growth, regional cooperation and strategic influence.