Do you know something Andre? Much of the technology in the Arab world was actually created by Jews and Persians and most of the distinguished "Arab" writers were not Arabs at all but Jews, Christians, Persians and other minorities. The Christians of Spain and Portugal used Jewish and Arab expertise but it was the expulsion of Spanish Jews that lead to a stagnation in Spain's science, technology and economy. That tells us something about the importance of Jewish scientists and scholars in Spain. Something you will learn about if you study the economic history of the world.

There are still many areas where Israel has to improve significantly in order to reach its full economic and scientific potential. However we should also appreciate what has been achieved: Israel has more scientists per capita than any other country in the world. Israel is a global leader in many cutting-edge technologies. Israel was ranked 15 on 2006 years global competitiveness inex, ahead of countries like France, Belgium, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Spain and Italy.

As Alexander said, mind your own business in Sweden and so will we in Israel. Keep your shrinking shtetl in Stockholm whereas we will stick to our homeland Israel. Sweden which was in the seventies one of the richest countries in the world, is going down big time today. Sweden has become a magnet for uneducated Muslim immigrants whereas the ambitious and scientific minds are leaving Sweden.

Yes, Helena - I do practice what I preach - I stick to facts and every individuals integrity is important and you should not treat other people in a way that you would not like to be treated in yourself. The backward people of the Haredim should be critized and those who are in favour of development and democracy should be praised. When you accuse people of something - dear Helena - you had better know what you are talking about. First of all how can you make judgements about me if you don't know me? Second, why are you so hostile to simple facts about Israel? Third - why are you so hostile to me and/or the Haredim? Yes, if you were serious about your last statement you would not mock your countrymen.

The educational system here at least at the elementary school level needs a great deal of improvement. We need better trained teachers who are qualified to teach the subjects that they are assigned to teach.If this does not happen you won't have to worry about a brain drain because our children won't be as good students as those in Europe or the States to be able to move ther to get good jobs! So Improve our Educational system here!

Alexander, Cartography and navigation were developed and traded by the whole Mediterranean civilizations. From the Greeks to the Morrocans, including obviously Jews and Moors. However your equation is at least naive. After being expelled from Portugal and Spain a significant part of the Iberian Jewry moved to Turkey, Western Europe and Americas. Beyazid II is said to have exclaimed "You call Ferdinand a wise king — he who makes his land poor and ours rich!" However, despite the economic development, Turkey did not became a center for technology as Andaluz had been before... So please, if the "proof" of the Jewish technological leadership is so clear, please explain how Turkey did not benefit from it so clearly... By the way, sticking to this issue. Current research points out that circa of 1/3 of those of Portuguese heritage in Brazil are in fact descendants of Jews. We are talking about few million people. If the Jewish "technological gene" is so strong in Iberian history, why did Brazil enter the 1900 so far behind the USA? You remind me of a former Russian-Israeli co-worker that used to say: Overseas we the jews have money. Overseas we own banks... I tell you what I told him: Jews are people like other people. That's the fact.

you wrote that Israel's economy is dependant on agriculture . Many years ago , yes . Today most of Israel's export [ exept diamonds ] is in the field of Hi tec , medcal equipement , medecines , and so . Agriculture has'nt anymore such a great importance . Sure we export strawberrys in the winter , flowers , and other agricultural products , but this only a small part of the total .

A huge mistake when looking on economy numbers is dealing with simple math... Before we get back to this issue. Few comments: USA still world's biggest economy. If they raised money from other countries is just another subject. By the way, every year we receive "few bucks" from this country that you called "not developed" as part of our security debt. So considering your words, that they are not so developed, then we are even worse!! And before we talk about the Katrina crisis you should not ignore that last summer, despite the already mentioned energy supply cut, we also suffered with the crisis in the north of the country and lack of action by the government... And before you start to think about this, I also remind you that 1/3 of our population is considered poor. Not miserable but poor. So, putting Israel in the develop countries groups is at least ignoring Israel socio-economic numbers. Once again: Pay extra attention when reading numbers from the government. Regarding Russians. I did not criticize them. However their levels of education are quite higher than the local sabra reality until the 80s. That's a reason why you must be careful when looking at those numbers offered by the government. Now. Regarding the Export numbers. I suggest you to read the CBS publication released few days ago that states: "The proportion of electronic components industries and electronic communication equipment industries exports continues to decrease" Perfectly understandable since this as you probably know, exclude software since software is normaly listed under services rather than eletronics. The full document can be read in http://www.cbs.gov.il/hodaot2006n/16_06_253e.pdf BTW. I'm not a Europe & US fan. That's why I moved to Israel from South America. What in no way means that I cannot criticize my country.

Charles, I suggest you to read my post again. I do not say that this country is dependant on agriculture but "much of this country economy is dependent on the Israeli agriculture". Maybe adding a "how" before "much" would make my point clearer. If you look MOF and MFA numbers you see that although GDP composition shows that agricultural participation is less than 3% in 2005, in the export portfolio, field crops and vegetables respond for aprox. 4% of the industry export portfolio (excluded diamonds & services). That's pure agriculture. If you include manufacturing of food, beverages and tobacco products the participation jumps to around 6%. Still I agree with you that things changed when compared with the pre 80s numbers, Best wishes.

First off all: Jews are human beings like all others. I've never said that they superhumans. I sad that they have got the gift for intellectual success and development - stop distorting my words. Either you have the gift or not and many Jews have the gift. You cannot "institutionalize" intelligence. Spain mismanaged its agriculture during and after the expulsion of Jews. The Kingdom of Spain found itself empty of intellectuals. Spain had a shortage of merchants, physicians, mathematicians and cartographers. Hundreds of years later the Arab world is underdeveloped but the Jewish civilization remains developed. Obviously the Jews are doing something right. Yes, knowledge was exchanged among the peoples of the Mediterranean Sea in the same way as the Jews civilized Europe. In the Arab world and in Turkey there were political movements interfering with the advancement of scientific research. The Islamists were relating to Al Koran and believed that Islam is the true way and not science. Development of technology also requires incentives and good institutions and right of possession and low taxes. Even though Jews might have experienced "golden ages" every now and then they remained mostly oppressed by the Muslim world and the decline of the Ottoman Empire was due to lack of renewal, lack of scientific advancement and economic progress. During the 19th and 20th century, the Jews and the Christians were still the most important merchants and intermediaries to communicate and trade with Europe and the world outside the Ottoman Empire. The source of the success of the Jewish civilization lies in good institutions, incentives such as rewards for hard work, education and ambition and right of possession. How many scholars and scientists did Spain have when the Jews were expelled? Lack of good institutions can explain the failure of Latin America, Africa and many Asian countries.

The Israeli economy exceeds that of $130 billion US and the US "aid" covers only $2,5 billion US which is used to finance America's armaments industry. It is a matter of fact the sole superpower could not afford evacuating New Orleans after Katrina. We are talking about ONE city and not the entire US. The US had to borrow billions of dollars from Japan, China, Russia and the EU. And now the poverty. Every nation has its own definition of poverty. Those Israelis that are considered to be poor possess TV:s, cellphones, cars, homes and food. They are not rich but they can manage - as opposed to the really poor people of Asia, Africa and Latin America with no food or clean clothes. Most of Israel's poor people are among the Ortodox as little money( as many of them do not work) divided among many children is the perfect recipe for poverty. Another group of poor people are Arabs - uneducated and therefore not having the best jobs. Lack of action by the government is no sign of underdevelopment. The US did not show any resolve during Katrina - still the US is de facto a rich and affluent society like Israel. The report that you are referring to states that the percentage of the high tech is declining but pharmaceuticals are rising. Pharmaceuticals are considered to be high tech as it requires know-how to produce, create and manufacture them. Pay attention please to what you are reading. I am not interested dear Andre in little details. Some Russian Jews were academics and some were not. The same thing goes with the sabras. More then 30% of the Israelis have a university education - among the highest percentages in the world. Who cares if the Israeli society was not as developed as it is today? It's called progress. Over time, nations eager to develop themselves prosper and progress. The same thing goes with the US, Israel and the rest of the developed world. Sometimes exports go up and sometimes they go down and the same goes for high tech. Israel is famous for software and electronics. Can you explain why this "little unsignificant Israel" stands alone for 15% of the world trade within the field of high technology and why most American computers are based on Israeli know-how , why the cellphone was developed in Israel and why Israel was already an important center of science and technology back in the 1980:s - preceding the Russian Jewish immigration of the 1990:s? And how come Israel is the 2nd most important high tech center of the world - after Silicon Valley? Its good to critize your country if your criticism is based on: 1) Constructive criticism (you are not offering any suggestions how to improve the Israeli society) 2)Basing it on facts. You are distorting facts. You are not paying attention to the positive parts of the reports and those that are negative you blow out of proportion. Actually, I do not believe that you are Jewish nor do I believe that you live in Israel. I believe you an anti-Semitic gentile in a Jewish disguise so that you will give "legitimacy" to your arguments. An Israeli patriot would acknowledge what is good and pointing out what is not and he would try to solve the issues. You do neither. For your information - I am a US fan.

Dear Alexander, "I sad that they(the Jews) have got the gift for intellectual success and development - stop distorting my words" Do I need to distort your own racist words? :-) You repeat the same rant repeated by Nazis and alike... you just change it for your own favor, but racism still racism. Jews, Arabs, Dutch, British, Italians and several other ethnic groups had each one their own importance in history. By the way, their importance is so impressive that even your name is not a Jewish name! Also regarding the discovery & development of the Americas: Blacks in North and South-America tend to repeat that Jews were the ones controlling the slave trade between Africa and the New World. It seems that you too believe in such statement... But returning to Spanish Jewish history. - By the end of 1240s The Muslims lost control over the whole Iberian Peninsula except for Granada... - 1391, antisemitism in "Spain" gets worse. - 1492, Granada surrenders - 1492 the Jews and moors are expelled from "Spain". -1492, "Spain" discover the Americas However, what you seems to ignore is that a period of Spanish history known as Spanish Golden Age extends from 16th century to 17th century. By coincidence the period of Habsburg ruling over Spain and the influx of America's gold and a long time after the expelling of the last Jews from Spain and Portugal. But how can I argue with you when your are talking about someone that says that: "Either you have the gift or not and many Jews have the gift"

Regarding your other message. Questioning if I'm Jew or if I live in Israel. If you can, we can sit for a Shawarma in front of the Abulafia in the entrance of Jaffo or either a Sabich in the Oved in Ramat Gan or if you prefer something more European we can sit for a Schnitzel in the Cafe Noir near Rothschild... I'm open to suggestions. :-) Regarding poverty and misery. It seems that you fail to understand the difference between poverty and misery. Africa, South & Central America a large part of Asia are living in misery, absolute poverty and not only poverty or relative poverty. I recommend you to read the World Bank standards regarding this subject instead of coming with this history that "every country has it's own definition of poverty". Nice but shallow phrase. BTW, even South American poor families have access to cable TV and McDonald's. I recommend you an one day tour inside Rio's "Favela da Rocinha". You will be surprised by the number of cable TV users about individuals that can't even pay for their homes and children education. Regarding the Orthodox not working situation. You earlier said that is not due to someone to decide if Orthodox Jews are welcome or not on this country. I agree with you. However, do we have the right to not fund their decision of not working or should we keep paying their choice instead of directing money to education and health? Also regarding the Arab populations. I understand that since Arab-Israelis are also Israelis under the eyes of the law, should we doing better effort to take them out of the "uneducated" situation? Indeed if Israel is such a developed and modern society, why don't we have any protection against real-state takeover by foreign "investors" buy real-state in an already disputed real-state market? Australia, is a good example on how is possible to protect the local access to real-state market without affecting foreign investment in new properties. Maybe because you don't pay attention to the details. I obviously do pay attention to what I'm reading, and no wonder I prefer to own stock of Teva instead of Checkpoint. Regarding the term "High-Tech", you know that in this country cosmetics and pharmaceuticals are not exactly included, despite the extreme need of "know-how" and R&D. As an individual so "deeply familiar" with history knows, "know-how" goes from primitive farming to things that we can't even talk about, the main difference is not about know how to do but knowing it first, before the technology you dominate turns to a commodity or something of general knowledge. However if you follow up the R&D politics of our government you will notice for example that when the Chief Scientist recently authorized funding for 15 new R&D projects, around half of funding was directed to the software industry... But as you said, you do not care about the small details. :-) Regarding constructive criticism. I do it through my vote due to personal beliefs. And regarding facts distortion. I'm not the one that said clearly that "he doesn't pay attention to the small details". I'm sure your insurance company is quite satisfied if your lack of attention. :-) Maybe I'm not patriotic enough. You remind me of a former boss that asked me once if Israeli system security was unbreakable. I told him. boss, there's not such a thing as unbreakable security. He insisted. But the Israeli Army is the best in the world... I said... even the Russians, Americans... nobody has unbreakable security, it's a conceptual issue. The best you can have is 99% but you shall not forget that nothing is unbreakable. He left the room with a look that was saying "stupid South American"... Sadly I changed positions before the "great performance" of the IDF during the 2nd Lebanese war... sic transit gloria mundi Respectfully, Andre

And what is so "racist" about stating facts that many Jews have got the gift for intellectual success and development? So does the Japanese that built the 2nd strongest economy of the world after the US. There are many gentiles that are clever but it also takes incentives and institutions to motivate them - such as low taxes and right of possession. There is nothing racist about my statements. Either you choose to be successful or not. Many Jews have got the gift but are not using it. The same goes with gentiles. A high percentage of the Jews have got the gift and have chosen to exploit it. I do not believe in slave trade - it is a figment of your imagination. On the contrary, most Jews OPPOSED the slavery and many Jews fought for the equality of blacks. It was the English, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese that annihilated most Indians and brought black slaves to America. You do not know a single thing about economics. Gold doesn't make a country rich and affluent. It is low taxes, right of possession, science, technology, food surplus, highly advanced agriculture, good institutions, education, ambition and hard work that determine the level of a nations development - such as Japan and Germany after WW2. Russia, Africa and Latin America have gold, diamonds and oil. They aren't rich. Spain was technologically and scientifically backward as compared to Britain, France and Germany in the 19th and 20th century after the industrial revolution. Despite the possession of gold and natural resources, very little effort was made to develop the country. The literacy rate was only a fraction of that of England or Germany or Holland. The agriculture was primitive and the percentage of people with a university education was low. It is interesting to note that even Germany was backward in the beggining of the 19th century as compared to England until Germany imposed new social institutions, incentives, modern communications to connect the German cities, lower tariffs and so on. Yes, Jews are individuals like gentiles and individuals are different. Many Jews have the gift - maybe a coincidence, I don't know but still a matter of fact. How can we explain that the Jewish people that constitutes 0,2% of the world population but 20% of the world's nobel prize winners are Jews. How do you explain this?

Sorry, your arguments don't hold water. First. a tourist could have visited those restaurants or read about them on the Internet. Second, even if you are Jewish it doesn't mean that your arguments can be given legitimacy. Facts are facts no matter who utters them. It is a matter of fact the US definition of poverty does not correspond to England's, Japan's or France's definition of poverty. In the same way as countries have different languages and cultures and currencies, the laws of the countries can be different as well. The minimum salary or the definition of the poverty line differs from country to country. I recommend you read "The truth about Markets" written by John Kay - a leading British economist. The poor people of Israel can afford studying at state run universities. The poor people of Israel have homes to live in, clean clothes and food. That's a fact. We have the right to have minimal state intervention and therefore no money or social allowances should be given neither to the Orthodox nor to the secular. The same rights and obligations apply to both religious and secular. Tell me something - do Arabs have a will of their own? If the answer is yes they have to pursue happiness and success on their own. Are we supposed to drag them to the universities or drive them to the lecture halls? If they want success they have to seek it. The same thing goes for ethnic Israelis/ethnic Jews. Laws seldom reach a level of perfection neither in Israel nor in the rest of the world. If that is an argument then no western nation is "rich". Unemployment rates exceed 20% in East Germany and the average growth in the EU countries corresponds to 1-2%. The European nations have no minimal states and the governments are trying to set the agenda at the universities and thereby holding their development back. Is this a proof of development? Pharmaceuticals and medicine and all products that are complicated to conceive or create are defined as high tech. Ask John Kay if you don't believe me. Know-how is always related to science - nothing else. Statistics do not convey the entire truth. The most important question is "why". Maybe the demand is decreasing due to lower salaries, maybe it it because of international competition, maybe the domestic market has grown and the percentage of high tech exports is going down, maybe the market is "full up" maybe not enough new capital such as factories have been built to facilitate an increased production. There are many explanations but still - the people within the high tech industry have got money and brains and they keep investing in tiny Israel. The question is why? You know the answer. Your personal beliefs are not demonstrated. Only pessimism and distortion of facts. The small details do not give the big picture. That's a fact. I don't care who I remind you of - I believe in facts and positive thinking. You don't have to like it. No country is perfect - neither Israel nor the rest of the world. If the negative sides of Israel can be used to demonize Israel then you should demonize the entire world but you don't. It's called double standards.

Why not fund scientific projects and not waste money on welfare,child allowances to those who never served in the I.D.F.,stop allyah of the elderly and cut off all money to draft dodgers.