Le grand réservoir de personnel qualifié que possède Israël est le principal responsable des percées scientifiques et technologiques du pays. A mesure que les scientifiques chevronnés, les ingénieurs et les techniciens parmi les centaines de milliers d'immigrants en provenance de l'ex-Union soviétique s'inséraient sur le marché du travail, la proportion de personnel israélien qualifié dans le domaine de la recherche et du développement a augmenté de façon spectaculaire. Ces spécialistes exerceront une influence significative sur les réalisations scientifiques et technologies des prochaines décennies.
A number of Israeli scientists have won the Nobel Prize over the past few years. The country’s most recent laureates are Dan Shechtman of the Technion, for his discovery of patterns in atoms called quasicrystals, and Weizmann Institute of Science's Ada Yonath, who received the prize for her work with ribosomes, one of the most complicated miniature "machines" in the human body.
Israeli know-how is also going into advanced electronics, with companies like Elbit leading the way in fields such as unmanned vehicles. Security systems are another fastgrowing area; dozens of Israeli companies are designing systems and software which can detect potential threats and intruders.
One of the fastest growing technology businesses in Israel is life sciences, with over 1,000 companies exporting over $6 billion in pharmaceuticals and medical devices. One well-known Israeli invention is Given Imaging's Pillcam, which allows physicians to examine a patient’s gastrointestinal tract with a swallowable camera. The generic pharmaceuticals giant Teva has played an important role in lowering the price of many drugs, as well as bringing to market novel drugs such as Copaxone for multiple sclerosis.