How Isolated is Israel? « The Ettinger Report

1. A record of 5.3 million tourists in Israel in 2013.

2. A record of $83.2BN foreign exchange reserves reflects the strength of Israel’s Shekel, at a time when the currencies of the emerging markets plummet.

3. A record of $2.3BN invested in 662 Israeli startups in 2013 (21% above 2012), according to KPMG and IVC (Globes, January 23, 2014).

4. Over 250 multinational research & development centers operate in Israel (Globes, February 13).

5. “Funds from the US, Europe and China are showing interest in dozens of Israeli companies that will be forced on to the auction block by Israel’s efforts to increase competition…. The sale [of dominant Israeli companies] is required by a law passed in December, 2013 to loosen the grip conglomerates have on the economy…. [Israel’s economic] growth is projected to outpace both the US and the euro area this year and next. The stability of the Israeli economy, and its fundamentals, make it attractive to foreign investors…. You are buying not because of a crisis in Israel, but because there is a desire to boost competition (Bloomberg, February 4, 2014, Alisa Odenheimer and Sharon Wrobel).”

6. Australia’s Woodside Petroleum, Ltd. will join explorations in Israel’s Leviathan offshore natural gas field, accepting a Memorandum of Understanding – to be completed by March 27 – which will provide the Australian giant with a 25% equity for $2.7BN (Globes Business Daily, February 10, 2014). Norway is increasingly interested in Israel’s natural gas market. Stavanger University concluded an agreement, in the energy-engineering area, with Israel’s Technion (Globes January 27). Cyprus negotiates a $3BN natural gas import from Israel.

7. Intel’s CEO, Brian Krzanich on Intel’s 40 year operations in Israel: “It’s a microcosm of Intel, a complete Intel within a single country. It’s about the only place where you have a complete cross-section of the company in one country.” Intel Israel features the largest research & development center outside the US; $10.8BN investments and a $1BN annual cost (during the last decade) on sourcing goods and services; 9,800 employees (mostly research & development), including 800 hired in December 2013; $35BN exports, including $3.8BN in 2013; breakthrough developments which have advanced Intel’s global competitive edge, such as the 8088 processor, Pentium MMX, Centrino, etc. (Globes, January 27).

8. Lockheed Martin’s Vice President of International Engineering and Technology, John Evans announced a joint investment, with EMC, in Israel’s cyber technologies: “We recognize evolving global needs, as well as the wealth of innovation taking place within Israel and its universities.” Orna Berry, Vice President and General Manager of EMC Israel: “Israel offers a unique combination of talent, innovation and pioneering spirit. We expect this collaboration with Lockheed Martin will help EMC continue to accelerate our important research & development and contribution to Israel’s mission to be a leader in innovation (Jerusalem Post, January 26).

9. Steve Mills, IBM’s Senior Vice President announced that IBM is establishing a Cyber Center at Ben Gurion University, (Globes, January 28).

10. Microsoft’s new CEO, Satya Nadella: “The research & development centers in Israel constitutes a strategic factor for Microsoft, enhancing our capabilities inn many areas. Our challenge is to leverage, in a most effective manner, the Israeli manpower (Globes, February 6).”

11. The French giant, Electricite’ de France (EDF) wishes to participate in the construction of two major Israeli power stations (Globes, January 28).

12. Altria (previously, Philip Morris Companies) acquired Israel’s Green Smoke (electronic cigarettes) for $110MN (Globes, February 5).

13. The Israel-China company, ShellCase raised $118MN for its subsidiary, WLCSP, on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (Globes, February 11). The German giant, SAP, led a $47MN round of private placement by Israel’s Kaltura. SAP was joined by the Silicon Valley-based Nokia Growth Partners, the Wilton, CT-based Commonfund Capital and Brazil’s Gera Ventures (Globes, February 13). The Silicon Valley-based Accel Partners and Innovation Endeavors (the private fund of Eric Schmidt, Google’s Executive Chairman) led a $10MN round by Israel’s Aorato. The London-based Index Ventures and the Silicon Valley-based Sequoia Capital led a $15MN round by Israel’s Adallom

Straight from the Jerusalem Boardroom #248
https://bit.ly/3u29k9g

Foreign investment in Israel’s high-tech companies surged to new heights in the 1^st quarter of 2021 – $5.7bn in 172 deals – which is up 89% over the impressive 4^th quarter of 2020 and double the volume of the 1^st quarter of 2020.

2020 was the first year of surpassing $10bn in capital raised by the Israeli high-tech sector from investors in the US, Asia and Europe, who trust the maturity of Israel’s brain power. Investments in Israeli companies more than tripled in six years, reflecting the effective response by Israeli startups to the technological, medical, pharmaceutical, educational, social and digital challenges posed by Covid-19.

Israel’s economic performance in defiance of Covid-19 is presented by Dr. Adam Reuter, the Chairman and Founder of “Financial Immunities,” Israel’s largest financial-risk management firm, and the co-author of Israel – Island of Success:

Israel has led the globe in the rapid administration of Covid-19 vaccinations due to effective negotiations with Pfizer and an efficient, country-wide medical infrastructure.
Israel is the second lowest among OECD countries in the number of Covid-19 deaths per number of Covid-19 cases: 0.7% compared to the 2.3% OECD average. Israel features a young population (median age of 30 compared to the OECD’s 42) and an effective country-wide medical infrastructure, including top level HMOs and hospitals.
Israel is ranked 12^th from the bottom among the 37 OECD countries in the number of deaths per million inhabitants: 645 compared to 1,145 OECD average.
The International Monetary Fund’s 2025 GDP growth forecast for OECD countries: Israel – 4%, OECD average – 2.2%, US – 1.8%, Australia – 2.5%, Ireland – 2.6%, France and Canada – 1.7%, the UK – 1.6%, Germany – 1.2%, etc.
Israel’s 2020 GDP was reduced by 2.5%, compared to the OECD average reduction of 4.1%, South Korea – 1%, Norway – 0.8%, Australia – 2.6%, US – 3.5%, Japan – 4.8%, Germany – 5%, France – 8%, the UK – 10% reduction, etc. GDP growth was recorded in New Zealand – 2.4% and Ireland – 3.5%.
In 2020, Israel was ranked 20^th among the 37 members of the OECD in terms of GDP per capita, featuring $43,000 (GDP – $408bn), ahead of Japan, Italy and Spain, and very close behind the UK ($44,000) and France ($45,000).
Israel’s debt-to-GDP ratio increased from 60% in 2019 to 72% in 2020, compared to the OECD’s average increase from 66% to 82%. The 2020’s debt-to-GDP ratio was 266% in Japan, Italy – 161%, the US – 131%, Germany – 73%, etc.
Israel’s foreign exchange reserves-to-GDP ratio of 41% (3^rd among the OECD countries) attests to its financial stability, and Israel’s capability to raise foreign credit promptly in a cost-effective manner. Israel’s foreign exchange reserves in March 2021 – $186bn.
During the past decade, Standard and Poor (S&P) accorded Israel a positive credit rating trend, unlike the negative trend for the G-7 countries. In 2020, notwithstanding Covid-19, Israel’s credit rating (S&P) remained at AA.
Some 380 global high-tech giants operate in Israel, including Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, Intel, Cisco, Apple, Verizon, Applied Materials, Dell, HP, Kodak, Oracle, Philips, SAP, Medtronics, GM, eBay, GE, etc. Israel leads the world in the ratio of research and development investment to GDP: 4.9%. 85% of this investment comes from the business sector.

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