Ten recent Israeli Success items

The following is a small random sampling of ten positive items about Israel, from great technological innovations developed recently in Israel to simple good news, which no doubt had a bearing on Warren Buffet's perceptions and decisions:

US Marines repeats order from Elbit

Elbit received $ 50 million order to supply US Marines with vehicular defence system before the end of 2006. Last year's order amounted to 70 million dollars.

Xerox invests in Israel

Digital printer giant Xerox Inc. is making its first investment in Israel. Xerox is buying Israeli start-up XMPie Ltd. for $50 million, after a long period of co-operation between the two companies. "XMPie" develops variable data publishing (VPD) products, offering a complete platform for printing, data control, interface, document design, data access and data retrieval, the transfer of data between different electronic media (printing, Internet, e-mail, and cellular messaging), and e-commerce.

Gene that withstands salinity discovered

Israel has been a world leader in agriculture in semi-arid regions, for decades.  Recently, researchers from Israel's Institute of Evolution identified a gene that could revolutionize agriculture and help alleviate world hunger. This gene will make crops salt tolerant and enable the growth of crops such as wheat in a warm desert region. The goal is to develop a battery of salt resistant genes to be used for crop improvement, extremely important for agriculture in semi-arid areas.

Technion develops herbicide-resistant plants

Herbicide-resistant plants have been engineered by scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in collaboration with a Hebrew University team. The results were published recently in Nature Biotechnology. Herbicide-resistance in commercial plants is highly desirable as it allows novel herbicide management options, eliminating the weeds only, particularly those closely related to the crop.

 Eliminating the possibility of Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals

Israeli firm "Cross ID" marks medication packages invisibly using a new, super-secret method. This is an important step in today's time of Internet pharmacies.

"Ben Gurion airport" hits record for passenger traffic

The number of international passengers reached 4.1 million, up 12 % in the first six months of 2006, compared to the 3.7 million passengers in the same time period of 2005. The number of flights also increased by 11 %, up from 28,300 in 2005 to 32,000 this year.

Israeli economy continues to take off

According to an analysis of the Israeli economy from March to May 2006, Israelis are buying more (20.3%), manufacturing more (7.8%) and exporting more (4.1%). The number of tourists increased 49.3%.

Internet solutions are in demand.

The Israeli firm "Daronet" has opened a development centre in Sri Lanka for its Asian market.

Israeli Internet for China

"Optibase" delivers streaming technologies for on-line television transmission to leading Chinese firms.

4.6% Growth

Despite of the war in Lebanon, positive economic growth is expected in Israel by Stanley Fisher, President of the Bank of Israel, for 2006.

Arts, culture, and sports are also flourishing, with many exhibits, concerts, and sporting events, all well attended.