Thunderbirds was a wonderful action puppet TV series in the 1960s. Although the Tracy family lived on a secluded and sleepy desert island, at a moment’s notice they would launch amazing vehicles that out of nowhere would zoom off to save the world.

Back to the boring reality of 2014 and the Israeli economy had been expected to plod along for the next year or two, barely reaching 3% growth. In comparison to the triumphs of the past decade and the growing population, 3% is no big deal. Amidst all this blandness and partially obscured by the latest histrionics of a deal with the Palestinians, it seems that the Israeli economy has taken off.

As the Ha’aretz newspaper recalled this week, the “Israeli economy is on a surprising upswing”. And this is no short-term spurt. Roger Cohen, writing in the New York Times, described this growth as “sustainable”.

Is this surprising? Over the past month, top economists have described Israel’s fiscal set up as “resilient“, viewing the country as a whole in the “high income” bracket. Complimentary, even I would not be so effusive. The spread of wealth still leaves much to be desired.

The fact of the matter is that the labour market has not imploded as had been predicted some months back. New trading routes have been discovered, as Asia in 2013 became a more important export market than the USA! And of course, Israel coffers are benefitting from the tax revenues of the new off-shore gas industry.

As pleasing as these news items are, where the government of Jerusalem really needs to strike a home run is in the field of structural reforms. The ports need to be privatized. Rail lines are waited for anxiously. The housing market is still too rigid. And so the list goes on.

Meanwhile, just as the Tracy team quietly go about their work, it would seem that the financial mandarins in the Holy Land can also be satisfied their accomplishments.