Usually, if Israel’s economy hits the foreign press, it has reported with a negative connotation. A recent detailed article in The Guardian newspaper from the UK is an excellent example, primed with selective details…..although I will not provide the link.

Again, usually, the bare facts are very different. Just take three examples from this week’s news.

ITEM 1: According to the UK’s Department of International Trade, 33 Israeli companies have set up shop in the UK during the past 12 months alone, joining over 300 other such businesses. It is estimated that the newcomers have already created about 610 jobs.

(It might be cheap to add, but I can only assume that this new wealth is located not in constituencies associated with the Parliamentary supporters of Jeremy Corbyn).

ITEM 2: Sodastream has a clear track record of creating employment for Palestinians and Bedouin, despite the claims of Israel’s opponents. It has been announced that PepsiCo has just bought the company for US$3.2 billion. I wonder if these same haters will suddenly stop drinking Pepsi products.

ITEM 3: Lana Del Rey is one of America’s most talented performing artists. She announced her intention to visit the Holy Land next month, and her statement was met with a monumental level of hate on social media. What impressed me most was her response.

I believe music is universal and should be used to bring us together. … Performing in Tel Aviv is not a political statement or a commitment to the politics there just like singing here in California doesn’t mean my views are in alignment w my current governments opinions or sometimes inhuman actions.

Del Rey is one of scores of artists this summer who are performing in Israel. They have fans from across the demographic, and that is what she is recognising.

It is this openness that is one of the fundamental strengths of Israel’s economy. It is there for all others, whatever their commercial make up. Those who wish to ignore it and to reject it are the ones who will lose out.