In late January at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on companies and investors from all over the world to use Israel as a global research and development center, pointing to the uniqueness of the country's inherent strengths within science and technology.
"I think for countries and companies alike the ability to partake in this Israeli incubator in your specific field is something that will enhance your competitive advantage," said the prime minister.
Netanyahu alluded to the moniker given to Israel by Dan Senor and Saul Singer in their 2009 book The Startup Nation.
"I call it the innovation nation. The future belong to those who innovate. Those who don't innovate, whether in companies or countries, will fall behind," the prime minister added at the summit.
Senor and Singer's book addressed the unique entrepreneurial prowess of this tiny country, which has been engulfed in a constant state of war with its hostile neighbors. But, according to their research, Israel has still produced more start-up companies than most large and relatively stable nations combined.
'Israel is the fast growing, one of the most dynamic entrepreneurial and innovation-based economies on the planet that barely got hit by the global, economic crisis of 2008," Dan Senor said during a CNBC interview.
"There are more Israel companies on NASDAQ than all of Europe combined, than all of India, China, Korea, Japan combined; more global venture capital each year going into Israel on a capita basis than the United States," Senor added.
The country's success largely stems to having a large bulk of funds in its annual budget going toward its Civilian Research and Development (R&D).
"They spend more as a percentage of their economy on 'R&D' than any country in the world, and they have some very innovative ways for how they actually make that R&D funding matter. It's not just about spending, it's about how you make it matter to the start-ups and the companies using it," Senor said.
The military plays a large factor in giving young men and women the ability to learn valuable leadership skills, which will come in handy in their business careers.
"They get the most incredible leadership and entrepreneurial experience in the battlefield, and [investors, CEOs] know how to read a military resume. They know how to integrate their battlefield experience into the economy," he said.
Just this week, CNET News reported that Google acquired SlickLogin, an Israeli company start-up, which utilizes both smartphones and high-frequency sounds for identity verification at web sites.
"We're announcing that the SlickLogin team is joining Google, a company that shares our core beliefs that logging in should be easy instead of frustrating and authentication should be effect without getting in the way," read a blogpost on SlickLogin's web site.
SlickLogin "develops technology that allows websites to generate nearly silent tones through a user's computer's speakers as a verification replacement for passwords. An app on the user's nearby smartphone picks up the unique audio signal, analyzes it, and sends it back to the site servers for login."
In recent years, Google has also acquired the spreadsheet company iRows in 2006, LabPixies in 2010 and the mapping service Waze, which was purchased for $1.3 billion.
The uniqueness in Israel is a part of the uniqueness of the Jewish people, a tribe that has survived (and flourished) for over 3,000 years.
"[This] is a special culture. From the Talmud to Einstein, the Jewish people were always asking questions. Truth wasn't finite... That questioning mind minding is something in our culture and I think adds very much to our capabilities," reminded Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Davos Summit.
Israel, a country of just 7.4 million, has also "enhanced Israel's innovative capacity, encouraging networking and sharing. An example [Netanyahu at the Davos Summit] cited was Give Imaging cameras in a pill, used to diagnose digestive ailments, which was originally based on guided-missile technology," HaAretz reported.
Israel's first Prime Minister Ben Gurion once said it was paramount for the country's citizens to utilize the brilliance of the 'gene pool,' which is inherent in their culture.
"Our human resources in general are no worse than any other country with our moral and intellectual ability far exceeding our neighbors. This is our chief advantage. And not it is virtually our only one. To exploit their role fully. They must be equipped with full exploitation of all innovative scientific and technological conquest for or defense," Prime Minister Ben Gurion declared.
