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

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HBO orders 40 episodes of Israeli series. HBO has decided to order 40 new episodes of the series "Treatment," based on the critically-acclaimed Israeli television series "Betipul." The series portrays a psychologist who treats patients at his clinic five days a week and then seeks psychological treatment for himself. The original Israeli series was aired on the Israeli HOT cable network and starred actor Assi Dayan. HBO will cast actor Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects) in the leading role as the psychologist. The 45 episodes will be the same number of episodes originally aired in Israel.

Israeli Scientists Develop Heart Muscle With Embryonic Stem Cells In a breakthrough development, Israeli researchers have successfully created new heart muscle with a built-in blood supply by using human embryonic stem cells. The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology scientists say they new development could now make possible the replacement of tissue damaged in heart attacks. It is the first time the researchers have created a three-dimensional cardiac tissue with blood vessels.

Israeli male lifespan among highest in developed countries. Men in only five countries have longer lifespans than Israeli males, who live an average of 78 years: Iceland (79.2), Japan (78.6), Switzerland (78.6), Sweden (78.4), and Australia (78.1). The average lifespan is one measure for defining quality of life and differentiating between developed and undeveloped countries.

Israel Startups Raise $1.62B. Israeli high-tech startups raised $1.62 billion in 2006, the highest amount in five years. The figure represented a 21 percent rise over the previous year. An Israel Venture Capital (IVC) Research Center survey noted that 402 companies raised funds from foreign and local venture investors. Life science startups raised $369 million last year, a record since the survey began in 1999. In the fourth quarter of 2006, local high-tech firms raised $477 million, a 25 percent increase over the previous quarter. The rise was particularly noteworthy as it followed this summer’s war along Israel’s northern border.

Israeli piano duo to perform in Hanoi. The acclaimed Israeli piano duo Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg will give a performance tonight at the Hanoi Opera House. Silver and Garburg, two of the most brilliant Israeli pianists, will play pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Franz Schubert and Franz Liszt. The two artists gave a lecture to students of the Hanoi Conservatory this morning. Praised for their lyric sensitivity, extraordinary inner perception and overwhelming technical mastering, the artists’ performances have been successful in 40 countries around the world. Silver and Garburg founded their duo in 1997 and within a few years became one of the most remarkable piano-duos on international stages, gaining enthusiastic acclaim by music audiences and critics. They have been the first prize winners of numerous national and international competitions both as soloists and as a duo.

Israeli Electronics Teaming with Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems. RADA Electronic Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: RADI), of Israel, announced today that it has signed a Teaming Agreement with Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corporation to cooperate in the construction and installation of the Skyguard(TM) High Energy Laser Defensive System aimed at hostile rockets and missiles interception for use by the State Of Israel. Skyguard(TM) is the end product of over thirty years of development of laser weapon systems by NGST. Skyguard(TM) has higher power and a larger beam than previous designs, making it a much more capable system. A single Skyguard(TM) system can defend a large civilian population or industrial area, large military installation and/or deployed forces. The first Skyguard(TM) system could be deployed in Israel within 18 months of date of order.

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.