A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman

December 31, 2007 Some Good News to End the Year

It’s always good to end the year on a positive note and we truly have positive items to report on the past year.  First, on the economy… Israel had a very successful year economically speaking.  The Gross National Product increased by 5.3%.  There was a 1% decrease in the unemployment rate, with the Israeli economy creating 120,000 new jobs.  Tourism increased by 15.5% and Israelis consumed even more products and imports, with an increase in car imports of 35.5%; purchase of electronic products rose by 23.3%.  America’s economic problems have not yet affected Israel’s economy, which today, is globally anchored. 
The second piece of good news is in the area of terrorism.  No other country has been so successful in fighting terrorism. With the exception of rocket attacks around Gaza and actions in the West Bank, there was only one successful terror attack in 2007 and that attack took place in January. 
Israel went from a high of 60 attacks in 2002 to 1 in 2007.  In 2002, 452 civilians and soldiers were killed, compared to 13 deaths this year, including 2 Israelis killed in S’derot from rocket attacks.