I wrote last week that “Israel is no longer number the only country in the game of start up nations”. After another eventful seven days for the Israeli economy, I can only confirm that statement. For all the good news, for all the new partnerships being formed with overseas investors, there is something very worrying just under the surface.

Let’s start with four pieces of positive soundbites.

A) Last week, I attended the launch ceremony of the Mass Challenge in Jerusalem. Nearly 50 start ups from differing sectors will be housed together in an incubator for about 12 weeks. Mentors and investors will be brought in to visit and to encourage.

Similarly, a new US$100 m biotech fund has just been launched to invest in Israeli pharma and medical kits. And a US15 million agritech incubator has been set up by a group of local and overseas investors. Really vibrant stuff!

B) Cisco has made another yet another purchase in Israel. Cloudlock was started in 2007 in Tel Aviv and has grown to 150 workers. To date, US$38 million had been invested in its efforts to promote security via the cloud. Jon Chambers has announced that he has agreed to a valuation of US$293 to include it in the Cisco empire.

C) MIS is located near Nazereth and makes dental implants, not a very sexy subject to many a folk. However, its 420 workers caught the eye of the NASDAQ company DENTSPLY, which has laid out US$375 m in cash for its sales base in over 50 countries.

D) And in a more general note, the good word on Israeli Fintech continues to seep out. According to KPMG, around about US$ 5.7 billion has been invested globally into the sector in the first half of 2016. Roughly 12% of that can be attributed to Israeli tech. Impressive.

But, and there is a but, the future remains grey. A recent OECD survey of 34 countries ranked Israel as 28th and 29th respectively, when it comes to reading and maths. Japan was placed first. What can of base is that for the next generation of entrepreneurs?

Something needs to change, and fast, when considering the future competitive strengths of the ‘start up nation’.