Good news from the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population.

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Israeli Companies Increasingly Taking World Stage. Israel has more companies listed on NASDAQ than any country outside North America. Given Imaging, just won recognition from The Wall Street Journal as the Biotech-Medical winner and overall winner of the Silver Medal for technology innovation in 2004 for its video camera contained in a swallowable, pill-shaped capsule. Other Israeli-related deals on which the Firm advised include representing Merrill Lynch on a $150 million convertible bond offering by Makhteshim-Agan, the world's largest manufacturer of generic crop protection products.

Israeli FM China visit heralds closer ties with China. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom will arrive in Beijing on Friday for a four-day visit to China, stressingg the importance of strategic relations between Israel and China ahead of his arrival in Beijing on Friday. Shalom, who will sign an agricultural cooperative agreement with China during his trip, noted China has become Israel's largest trade partner in Asia, with the total volume of trade reaching 1.6 billion US dollars in 2003.

Israeli experts in Cyprus to help battle against the locusts. Experts from Tel Aviv visited villages near Paphos and Limassol yesterday morning to examine the locusts, which are a pinky-red colour.

Confidence in Israel. The American state of New York is to buy $50 million worth of Israel Bonds, one of the largest such purchases ever. Israel Bonds are "secure and good investments that will bear fruit," New York State comptroller Alan Hevesi said, expressing confidence in the Israeli economy. In another example of foreign confidence in Israel, Finland and Israel last month signed a communications and information technology research and development agreement.

Israeli make molecules form nano containers. Researchers from Israel's Technion Institute of Technology (and the University of Minnesota) have found a way to coax the self-assembly of minuscule multicompartment structures. The structures could eventually be used in drug delivery systems, according to the researchers. They would be especially appropriate The nanostructures could be used in practical applications in two to five years, according to the researchers. The work appeared in the October 1, 2004 issue of Science.

Israeli high-tech companies raised $438 million in Q3. The positive trend in the Israeli venture market continued in 2004's third quarter. 113 Israeli high-tech companies raised $438 million from venture investors both local and foreign. The amount was up 30 percent from the $338 million raised by 91 companies in the previous quarter and was 55 percent higher than the $283 million raised by 103 companies in the third quarter of 2003. The amount raised in the first three quarters of 2004 reflects an increase of 43 percent from the same period in 2003. Third quarter capital raising was at its highest level in three years. In fact, in Q3 Israeli high-tech companies raised more than twice the amount raised in Q4/2002. The current figures reflect the continuous recovery of the Israeli high-tech sector, as well as an increase in levels of capital invested by both Israeli and foreign investors.

A Decade of Peace between Israel and Jordan. October 26, 2004 marked a decade since the signing of the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan. Israel views Jordan as an island of stability in the region and a significant partner in the efforts to achieve peace with its Middle East neighbors.

Israeli Researchers Identify Parkinson's Gene. Israeli researchers have added another gene to the list of those possibly linked to Parkinson's disease, saying their finding could one day 'affect the treatment options available to patients.' Researchers at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa said their study of 99 Ashkenazi Jews with Parkinson's disease found that 31 of them had mutations of the glucocerebrosidase (GBA) gene, which produces a protein that metabolizes fats. The research appears in the Nov. 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The finding 'holds a lot of promise for therapy,' said Dr. Mel B. Feany, an associate professor of pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal.

Israel close to $230m drone deal with India. Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) is about to close a $230 million deal with the Indian Army to sell it around 50 Heron/Eagle drones. Heron/Eagle is a Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance type unmanned aerial vehicle that can operate at a distance of more than 1,000 kilometres and at altitudes above 25,000 feet for more than 24 hours, providing real-time intelligence, according to IAI. The system also features automatic take-off and landing, integrated mission planning and sensor technology, and can simultaneously carry a wide range of payloads.

Israeli Basketball team sweeps Russians. Israeli teams recorded a clean sweep over their Russian opponents in Europe League competition last night. Ironi Nahariya scored an away win at Ural Great, Beni Hasharon snatched a dramatic victory over Khimki, and Oded Katash's Galil Elyon downed defending champion UNICS Kazan.

Israeli scientists teach Indians greenhouse technology. Israeli scientists are teaching Indian researchers techniques in greenhouse cultivation to help increase agricultural production by over 50 percent. The scientists have been sent by Mashav, a branch of the Israeli foreign affairs ministry, as part of the Indo-Israel project in agriculture that was set up in September 1998. At the Indian Agriculture Research Institute, 10 hectares of land has been dedicated for the Indo-Israel project, where Indian scientists would learn the latest scientific developments in agriculture in Israel.

Israeli writer win top French prizes. Israeli author Aharon Appelfeld was awarded France's most prestigious literature prizes for best foreign book. Seventy-two-year-old Appelfeld's 'The Story of A Life' won the Medicis prize for his account of a childhood in Eastern Europe, World War II and after the war.

Facts about the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population.


  • Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.
  • Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.
  • In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews at risk in Ethiopia to safety in Israel.
  • When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times.
  • When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day - and saved three victims from the rubble.
  • Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship - and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.
  • Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity.
  • Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."
  • Israel has the world's second highest per capita of new books.
  • Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.
  • Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.
  • Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well.
  • Israel has the highest per capita ratio of scientific publications in the world by a large margin, as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.
  • In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the US (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).
  • Israel is ranked #2 in the world for VC funds right behind the US.
  • Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.
  • Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies
  • Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The per capita income in 2000 is over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.
  • With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and start-ups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world (apart from the Silicon Valley).
  • With an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16s, Israel has the largest fleet of the aircraft outside of the US.
  • Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.
  • The cell phone was developed in Israel by Motorola-Israel. Motorola built its largest development center worldwide in Israel.
  • Windows NT software was developed by Microsoft-Israel.
  • The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel.
  • Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.
  • AOL's instant message program was designed by an Israeli software company.
  • Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel
  • The city of Beer Sheva in Israel has the highest percentage in the world of Chess Grand Masters per capita – one for every 22,875 residents.
  • On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech start-ups
  • Israel has the largest raptor migration in the world, with hundreds of thousands of African birds of prey crossing as they fan out into Asia.
  • Twenty-four percent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees -- ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland -- and 12 percent hold advanced degrees.