Israel and Microsoft - a happily married couple

While

"the mainstream press in the United States marked the 60th
anniversary of the independence of Israel by riveting on what the society has
not accomplished with its own Arabs and the Arabs in the neighboring
territories."

the chief executive officer of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer,

"it focused on what Israel has made of itself as a center of the technological revolution of today and tomorrow.. "

As mesmerizing as the wealth of many Arab societies is, says Marty Peretz here,

"these riches are not much shared either within these societies and certainly not across borders."

And it is doubtful whether

"Arab culture will anytime soon be infused with the ethos of curiosity and intellectual daring that is commonplace in the the U.S., in parts of Europe and, as the most recent welcome guests have observed, certainly in Israel."

Al Gore was also here this week for longer, among other reasons to lecture and to participate in a conference on technology and the environment. He, too, understands the Zionist purpose of creating a scientifically sound society.