Israel the only country in the West to reduce its debt
“Israel is the only country in the West which has managed to reduce its debt as a proportion of GDP in 2012.
“Yedioth Ahronoth has learned that the Israeli government’s debt in the past year (which is calculated this week and published soon) will total some 73.5% of GDP, compared to 74.1% of GDP in 2011 and 80% of GDP five years ago.“Debt has increased in all Western countries in recent years, and in some it has even reached more than 100% of GDP.”
(via eretzyisrael)
Holocaust archive rescues lost identities, reunites long lost families
By Andy Eckardt, Producer, NBC News, nbcnews.comWATCH VIDEO: Nearly 70 years after the end of the Second World War, a Holocaust archive in Germany is helping victims and survivors of Nazi atrocities to find clues about the past — and is still reuniting families. NBC News’ Andy Ecka…
Is Apple Plotting A Route To A Waze Acquisition? Rumours On The Road Point To Yes
Mike Butcher, techcrunch.comThere can be no doubt that one of the hottest startups of the last couple of years has been social sat-nav smartphone app Waze. Not surprising in an era when – largely due to Apple initially dumping Google Maps in iOS 6 – everyone woke u…
Waze (from Israel) could be Apple’s one shot at restoring their (often mocked at) Maps application, although Apple will have to pay out a fortune to buyout the company.
Update (1/3/13): It appears Apple was never interested in buying Waze.
Israel's population on 8 million threshold
Globes correspondent, globes.co.il
With the population growing 1.8% million annually (145,000 in 2012), the 8 million threshold will be passed during February 2013.
Now that is one way to start out the New Year! Or rather the new year according to the Gregorian calendar (as it’s 5773 according to the Jewish calendar).
Supporting Israel’s “start-up nation”
A Googler, blogspot.comIn March, we launched Campus London to help support the vibrant start-up community there and help energize the U.K. Internet economy. Today, we’re launching Campus Tel Aviv—a one-floor event & community space and pre-accelerator program in downtow…
Google now promoting Israel’s startup scene? :-)
UN passes Israeli resolution on entrepreneurship for development
The UN has affirmed Israel’s view that the best way to fight poverty is not through heavy government intervention but rather through entrepreneurs creating jobs.
As Israel’s economy grows, more Israelis are giving to charity
Ben Sales, jta.org
Israeli philanthropy is expanding as the country’s economy grows, but experts say that getting Israelis to give remains an uphill battle.
Israeli’s “spreading the wealth” by blessing others less fortunate than they are. It’s also great to hear that in spite of the global recession that Israel as a nation is doing very well (at least on the economic front).
Finding It Difficult To Get Your Startup Off The Ground? Try Doing It Under Missile Fire
Ben Lang, techcrunch.comEditor’s note: Ben Lang is a growth hacker at lool ventures and creator of Mapped In Israel. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
The recent battle between Israel and Gaza revolutionized real-time war reporting, with bot…
A great article highlighting the perseverance of Israeli startups!
Israeli Economy Praised By S&P?
In a world full of tumbling markets (with financial analysts fretting about the American and European economies), you would think that Israel would be lumped together as a decline along with everyone else experiencing the recession.
Apparently the S&P see’s otherwise.
In its announcement, S&P said, “The Israeli economy continues to generate solid economic growth and enjoy a net external asset position, even though the current account has temporarily turned negative. The stable outlook reflects our view that there is sufficient political will to prevent a sizable increase in the government’s debt burden, and that major security risks will be contained.” (Globes Online)
The S&P is maintaining confidence in Israel’s current rating (it’s A+ / A-1) which should help convince the affluent to invest within the Kosher state.
Note: you can find more info about Israel’s rating upon the Standard and Poor’s website, although you will have to register to gain access to more detail about Israel (don’t worry, it’s free!).
Israel has a long list of diseases for which treatment with medical marijuana is permitted and 9,300 patients currently hold permits for it. One American expert says this system should be a model for the practice internationally. Read more.
