Is there another Israel? As befits its knickname, is there an Israel full of promising ideas and hopes?

Mid January 2012, and the news out of the Holy Land may read like the normal cheerless doom in the international media; Iran’s nuclear threat, the EU complaining that Israel abusing Palestinians, and an increasing focus on the negative issues raised by ultra-orthodox Jews.

So here are 5 economic and social items that you may not have heard about, and yet many  of these stories are literally changing the habits of millions around the world.

Take Any. DO, and Israeli start up which was recently voted the best Android app of 2011 by Techcrunch. Writing as a business mentor who is frequently confronted by clients that cannot mange their own time, I consider this a brilliantly simple solution. The company has a one page website, but the number of downloads breached the million mark a long time back.

Now have a look at what GM is developing in Israel. Imagine that the windows of the passengers seats could be used as a note pad! It’s fun time. Kids will never scream again “when are we there?”…except for the one in the middle, who cannot reach one of the screens. The link clicks to an amazing video.

Kodak International is facing massive financial difficulties. Kodak in Israel does not expect (officially) to fire anybody nor reduce its activities. While this may be partial wishful thinking, this line of thought reflects the key strengths of the domestic hightech industry; an excellent workforce that produices quality products.

This week, I attended a lecture from Moty Hazan, the CEO of Jerusalem’s Development Authority. Now it is no secret that the terrorism of the previous decade hit hard the commercial growth of this special city. Today, despite the global downturn, Jerusalem benefits from record levels of tourism – around 3m visitors a year, destined to peak at 10m within another 5 years – and a dozen international conferences, when there where none during the violence.

And despite the dire economic news from Europe, Israel’s economy is still performing relatively well. Unemployment has fallen to a record low of 5.5%, although it will definitely pick up in 2012. Apple is to open a new r&d centre in the country. Frutarom in Haifa, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of food additives, has just purchased its 17th company in five years. etc etc

Israel’s economic growth for 2012 is expected to be around 3%. Not too many in the OECD can boast about that sort of stat.