Review Paper Healthy Israel 2020: A visionary national health targeting initiative E. Rosenberg a, *, B. Lev a , G. Bin-Nun a , M. McKee b , L. Rosen a,c a Israeli Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel b London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine, London, UK c Department of Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Israel Received 6 July 2007; received in revised form 5 February 2008; accepted 14 March 2008 Available online 30 July 2008 KEYWORDS Israel; Health targets; Objectives; Health promotion; Disease prevention Summary This article describes the development of a national health targeting initiative entitled ‘Healthy Israel 2020’ which was created to enhance the health and wellbeing of Israelis through a variety of health promotion and disease preven- tion interventions. This initiative builds upon the experience of two major world- wide targeting efforts, ‘‘Health People 2010’’ of the US and the World Health Organization’s Health21’, as well as lessons learned from other countries. Impor- tant philosophical underpinnings are highlighted, particularly the evidence-based nature of the process. Real-world organizational and policy challenges and creative solutions are presented. It is hoped that this report will be of value to others in Israel and elsewhere who are interested in improving the health of their nations. ª 2008 The Royal Institute of Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Background Israel is a complex country and this is reflected in its health profile. On the one hand, key indicators show that the health of the average Israeli is relatively robust. In 2005, life expectancy at birth was 80.3 years, placing Israel in eighth place in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) international rankings, 1 well ahead of many countries that are substantially wealthier. The percentage of adoles- cents consuming fruits and vegetables is high. 2 As 28% of the population is under 15 years of age *Corresponding author. 98 HaRimon Street, Moshav Beit-Gamliel, D.N. Emeq-Soreq 76880, Israel. Tel.: þ972 50 624 2275; fax: þ972 8 932 7279. E-mail address: eli.rosenberg@moh.health.gov.il (E. Rosenberg). 0033-3506/$ - see front matter ª 2008 The Royal Institute of Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2008.03.015 Public Health (2008) 122, 1217e1225 www.elsevierhealth.com/journals/pubh