Let Us Not Lose Sight Of: Israel: Leaders in Science, University Graduates

Aish.com has come up with some great facts about Israel's accomplishments these past 64 years.
"Innovation:
 Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 per 10,000 in the U.S. More, it has the highest ratio of university degrees to its population, the highest per capita ratio of scientific publications and patents filed, and proportionally the largest number of startup companies in the world. Israelis among other things:

*designed the most impenetrable flight security, and advise the U.S. re: airborne security threats.

*developed the first fully no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer treatment.

And: *The cell phone, Windows NT software, voice mail technology, AOL’s instant messenger program, and the Pentium MMX Chip were designed in Israel." 

This is just the tip of the iceberg in inventions that help people worldwide.  

Here's the unusual fact.

"Israel accounts for less than 1/1000th of the world's population, and is the 150^th smallest country, yet is a world leader in many areas.

Humanism, Politics, and Culture. Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East where Muslims, Christians, and Jews may vote in free and fair representative parliamentary elections. It also has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined."

It's the only successful state in the area and thus the object of ridicule and hatred by the surrounding neighbors.  I've seen this happen even in classrooms.  The nerd or student actually studying gets teased and beaten up by the bullies.  It's pretty disgusting how success is often viewed.  

Resource: http://www.aish.com/j/f/WouldJew_Believe_Israel_Edition.html