Thus wrote the Financial Times earlier this year:

Israel brands itself as a “start-up nation”, the second-largest source of innovation after Silicon Valley, as measured by the value of its tech start-ups. The country is the world’s third-largest source of listings on New York’s Nasdaq, after North America and China.

But for all the hype why would a big multinational or conglomerate invest in Israel?

In yesterday’s supplement of the The Calcalist (Economist) Hebrew newspaper, there was an interesting item detailing the most sought-after employers that operate in Israel. The top 10 included 4 mega players on a global scale – Intel, Facebook, Microsoft and Google. Of the next 40, at least a further 11 are also well-known international brands, like eBay, IBM and Pfizer.

And here’s the point. While Israeli salaries may be lower than European or American counterparts, the article makes it clear that these corporations are paying well above the domestic average wage. Why?

Let’s face it. Israel remains surrounded by geopolitical uncertainty with r&d centres in the firing lines of those who value human life differently from corporate America. The country has few natural resources. There are extreme differences between rich and poor. And Israeli brashness come sometimes become oppressive, to say the least. So why Israel?

The answer is simple. Back in 1986, Israel began to ditch the “desert economy’ attitude and learnt to offer quality content to the world. In parallel to this increased openness, the high-tech industrial revolution took place, where Israel has much to offer in the fields of internet, nanotech, mobiles, solar energy and much more. And in local brawn power, often tried and tested within the military, you end up with the very formula that leading multinationals cannot readily find elsewhere.

There are those that oppose this openness. They demand that the world boycotts Israel, (although they frequently allow their own products and services to be marketed in the Holy Land).

But here is the real irony. For all the shouting of the hate campaign, their supporters are totally unable to cut out the effect of eBay, Siemens, Intel et al on their lives. Even the logo of Google was designed by an Israeli.

It is that momentum that has encouraged “Global Corporate Inc” to seek out the Israeli job market.