USA is near bankrupt and their economy loses weight in the world every year more, now their taxis come from Japan and their wall street are taken over by Germany.. the dollar reaches toilet paper value.. Switzerland is suffering hardly from their too hard currency and their little economy is losing weight too..but well this survey is done in switzerland, so no wonder about their top rankings all the time..

In having scientist.but today electronic,software and defence is a real necessity for israel.look trophy aps (meil rauch),iron dome.israel should go to toward building equipments that are using today by the people of the world too.building machines,mobiles,and electronic devices.electronic with software bring power.

At least 1 million scientists.if we are thinking about the future of israeli children.beside i am highly proud that have a politician like benjamim.

According to J Street: "Israel’s settlements in the occupied territories have, for over forty years ... drained Israel’s economy..." So according to J Street this article is obviously wrong. Or could it be that J Street is obviously wrong.....??? I mean, how can we be the 17th most competitive economy in the world if our economy is "drained"?!?!? No wonder J Street is not taken seriously by most Israelis.

with all the huge "inventions" iran has recently claimed, this body doesn't even mention it being on the list. this is because iranian inventions are in their own mind and not reality. it is all a bark and lie by the ayatollas. hameed aboughaze, iranian

pressure from her enemies.

I bet we could be number one. Too bad so many of our worst critics don't even know how much we contribute to the world, even under the extreme hostilities we face from all sides, inside and out. I hope we don't become like the fabled kingdom of Atlantis one day, just a legend in a false history.

Their paranoia with Stuxnet has just increased 7 fold.

And whine when the US talks about stopping such aid. Grow up. Or are you thye '17th best' but No. 1 in whining and freeloading?

and when people don't LIVE HERE.

Amen, Mike. Why does Israel constantly make us "guarantee" their security if they are such a superpower? They talk so tough about Iran and then beg the US to do the dirty work. Superpowers hold permanent seats on UN Security Council and none start with an "I". Speaking of economies, looks like Russia is the flavor of the week to steal intellectual property from; Israel has already tapped out US and Western Europe. Israel should step out from under the Wests' umbrella because superpowers aren't afraid of getting wet.

Because that Amrerican aid you talk about gives 30,000 jobs. The aid Israel gets from you has to be spent in America so it helps you more than it does Israel!

billions of $ giving to arabs who want America down fall?.For your information Israel does not want the downfall of America.Tell your US president to stop all aid to terrorist countries.

So IL is 17th among the world's 59 leading economies but DROPPED from 47 to 49 in cost of living. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The economic gap is widening and this is a SERIOUS ISSUE that must be addressed.

to give Arabs an area 3 times the size of Israel, which endangered severely the existence of Israel making defense so much more expensive. Now you have another idiot Muslim in the White House who plans on doing more stupid things, worse this time.

Presuming these numbers are correct, said settlements (along with barring Arabs from full citizenship and immigration) could well be keeping you from being ranked higher.

That $$ never leaves the US. It creates jobs and keeps people employed. Israel is required to purchase goods from US manufacturers. Next time do your homework before spitting your filth on the Internet.

The US "aid" damages Israel more than it helps. The only Israelis who want the money are corrupt politicians who get a cut. Please do us a favor and demand that the US stop giving the money. We do not want it.

is what the muslims can't stand; a jewish state, a modern non dhimi jewish state whose jews are free and light years ahead of the arab world economically, socially, politically and educationally. hameed aboughaze, iranian

FOR SOMEBODY WHO HAVE LIVED IN EU FOR QUITE SOMETIME, EU IS STILL 40 YEARS BEHIND THE US & JAPAN IN MANY THINGS, SO ANYONE WHO CLAIMED THAT EU IS SUPER IS A NONSENSE? ISRAEL IS CATCHING UP AND EU IS VERY ZEALOUS OF IT?

Protecia is not competitive.

with its 'Equal opportunity President'. tiny Isreal who is demanded to be the korban for the entiire worlds ills is steamrolling ahead of the entire world pack. I've said it a 1000 times, Israel is heading towards not only being the worlds R&D centre but will be one of the worlds richest economies.

agree, but light years is a unit of distance, not time =)