The Israeli Brand

* Most people associate Israel with the conflict: army, terror, war, and strife at best - if not oppression and ethnic cleansing at worst.
* We accepted terms to a debate we cannot win. As long as we identify our conflict as an Israeli/Palestinian conflict we will loose. No matter how you slice it, Israel with be Goliath and Palestian will be David. Identifying the conflict as an Israel / Arab conflict avoids the David/Goliath perception, but still doesn't frame the debate in a positive image.

Is Israel Safe?

The latest market research has indicated that Israel's perception is very low. Mr. Medved's reaction to this statement is that "Israel's perecption has not even begun to be addressed yet."
With only $600,000 dedicated to tackling the negative image of Israel perception and awareness, an attempt to change its global perception has not even been attempted.

Our perception: Israel is still an unsafe place
The reality: 45 Israelis died in terror attacks in 2005 (In 2000, 450 died). In 2005, 600-700 Israelis died in car accidents.


How does VC in Israel Measure Up?

Israel has 4,000 start-ups in a country of 6 million people. Every single day in Israel, another company receives VC funding (not angel funding). In fact, after the 2000 dip in public and private funding as the intefada began to unfold, Israel's investments in VC funding did not dip as much as Europe. Furthermore, European VC investments continue to decline from 800, while Israel's VC investments account for half the VC funding of all of Europe.

Even when compared to the US, Israel is outperforming in VC funding. Israel is currently about 20% of American VC Funding (keep in mind the Jewish population in the U.S. is less than 2%).

Dot.com plus Intefada Boom
How did Israel come out on top and improve VC funding when they not only had to deal with the dot.com bust but a war as well?

The answer is culture. People around the world say "yeah, yeah, the Jews are smart..." give me a break. Look at our kids test scores - it doesn't measure up. The answer is culture.

- Israel compact entity is a huge plus.
- Israel likes to question authority
- Immigrants bring international networks
- The army is not only a technology hub, but another source of culture

Businesswise - Asia is Israel's friend, with trade increasing 30-40% every year.

Israeli is not your "Typical Sony." When you think of Sony - you think of Japan, even though Sony doesn't manufacture any of its own parts in Japan any more! When you think Intel you don't think Israel. Our obligation to Israel is to promote our story - because its not Intel's story - it's ours.

Your Daily Dose
80% of PC (Printed Circuit) boards are being inspected on Israeli technology.
The chips, algorithms, and 85-90% of every cell phone has Israeli technology.
The largest manufacturer of cellular phones is in Israel
VOIP was developed in Israel, (and made popular by Skype).
Flash Memory development is founded by Eli Hararri - in Israel.
Largest manufacture of DVD chips
Every single DirectTV box has Israel technology
You can't find a Cable TV system without Israeli technology
TEVA manufactures and sells more pills than any other company in America
From consumer, medical,