Storm Byron is being described as an exceptional weather event, but it simply exposes a truth that has been clear for years: climate volatility is reshaping economic risks faster than Israel’s infrastructure and policy can keep up.
The storm is not an anomaly; it is a preview of the operating environment our economy must learn to withstand.
When infrastructure is calibrated for a climate that no longer exists, the result is unavoidable: disruptions cascade across sectors. Energy systems struggle under stress, transportation corridors shut down, and entire regions find themselves vulnerable to outages and service interruptions.
These are not environmental issues alone - they are direct threats to productivity, continuity, and economic resilience.
Israel’s current trajectory treats adaptation as a secondary concern, something to be addressed “when the time comes.” But the time has already come. Around the world, governments are adjusting planning models, building climate-ready infrastructure, and shifting to cleaner industrial systems not because it is fashionable, but because economies that fail to adapt will face rising costs, shrinking competitiveness, and weakened growth.
If Israel cannot prepare for the future, it will face more environmental crises
Our energy sector illustrates the challenge clearly. Extreme heat, intense rainfall, and rapidly shifting weather patterns put increasing pressure on a grid that was never designed to absorb these fluctuations.
Without accelerating the transition to renewable generation, storage solutions, and smarter, more flexible infrastructure, Israel will continue to face operational and financial vulnerabilities. The longer the delay, the deeper the dependence on outdated systems that cannot deliver stability in a changing climate.
Storm Byron should therefore be understood not only as a meteorological event, but as a strategic signal. It reminds us that resilience is built long before any storm arrives, through investment, planning, and the willingness to modernize.
Israel has the innovation capacity to lead the region in clean energy, efficiency, and climate-ready design. But innovation alone is not enough; it must be matched with policy frameworks and infrastructure decisions that reflect the climate reality we now inhabit.
The real cost of climate delay is not measured in any single event. It accumulates quietly, through missed opportunities, rising operational risks, and systems stretched beyond their limits.
Preparing for the future is not optional - it is the baseline requirement for a healthy, competitive economy.
Storm Byron will pass. But the economic lessons it highlights will define whether Israel’s next decade is marked by resilience or by recurring, avoidable crises.
The writer is the founder of the Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy Conference