Screw the French!

The Middle East has been growing date palmsfor centuries. The average tree is about 18-20 feet tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year.

Israeli date trees are now yielding 400 pounds/yearand are short enough to be harvested from the ground or a short ladder.

Israel the 100th smallest country, withless than 1/1000th of the world's population,can lay claim to the following:

The cell phone was developed in Israel byIsraelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola,which has its largest development center in Israel.

Most of the Windows NT and XP operatingsystems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designedin Israel at Intel.

Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and theCentrino processor were entirely designed,developed and produced in Israel.

The Pentium microprocessor in your computerwas most likely made in Israel.Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.

Both Microsoft and Cisco built their onlyR&D facilities outside the US in Israel.

The technology for the AOL Instant MessengerICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world(after the U.S, Russia and China). In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel's air force hasan aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16's. This is thelargest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the U. S.

Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all ofits immediate neighbors combined.

Israel has the highest percentage in the worldof home computers per capita.

According to industry officials, Israeldesigned the airline industry's most impenetrableflight security. US officials now look (finally)to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.

Israel has the highest ratio of university degreesto the population in the world.Israel produces more scientific papers per capitathan any other nation by a large margin -109 per 10,000 people --as well as one of the highestper capita rates of patents filed.

In proportion to its population, Israel has thelargest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number ofstartup companies than any other country in the world,except the U.S. (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).

With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups,Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companiesin the world -- apart from the Silicon Valley, U.S.

Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venturecapital funds right behind the U.S.Outside the United States and Canada, Israelhas the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.Israel has the highest average livingstandards in the Middle East.

The per capita income in 2000 wasover $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.

On a per capita basis, Israel has the largestnumber of biotech startups.

Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforceholds university degrees, ranking third in theindustrialized world, after the United Statesand Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.

Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at Risk in Ethiopia,to safety in Israel.

When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister ofIsrael in 1969, she became the world's secondelected female leader in modern times.

When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenyawas bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day -- and saved threevictims from the rubble.

Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship --and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.

Relative to its population, Israel is the largestimmigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom,and economic opportunity. (Hundreds of thousandsfrom the former Soviet Union)

Israel was the first nation in the world to adoptthe Kimberly process, an international standardthat certifies diamonds as "conflict free."

Israel has the world's second highest per capita of new books.

Israel is the only country in the world that enteredthe 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.

Israel has more museums per capita thanany other country.

Medicine... Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation,diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.

An Israeli company developed a computerizedsystem for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment.Every year in U. S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.

Israel's Given Imaging developed the first ingestiblevideo camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to viewthe small intestine from the inside, cancer and digestive disorders.

Researchers in Israel developed a newdevice that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device issynchronized with the camera helps doctorsdiagnose heart mechanical operationsthrough a sophisticated system of sensors.

Israel leads the world in the number of scientists andtechnicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000,as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70 in Japan,and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% ofits work force employed in technical professionsIsrael places first in this category as well.

A new acne treatment developed in Israel,the Clear Light device, produces a high-intensity,ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light thatcauses acne bacteria to self-destruct --all without damaging surrounding skin or tissue.

An Israeli company was the first to develop andinstall a large-scale solar-powered and fully functionalelectricity generating plant, in southern California's Mojave desert.

All the above while engaged in regular wars with animplacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having tospend more per capita on its own protection thanany other county on earth.

. .. . . AND THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR IN ENGLAND SAYS :

"ISRAEL IS NOTHING BUT A SH*&&# LITTLE COUNTRY"