The DLD Tel Aviv Conference included a panel of the Israeli heads of IBM, General Motors, Qualcomm, Deutsch Telekom and Google. All agreed that Israel’s superb engineering talent is due to strong academic institutions, entrepreneurial and creative spirit, hard working and a “can-do” attitude.

http://www.iati.co.il/news-item/1668/the-other-silicon-valley-role-of-multinational-companies-in-israel%EF%BF%BDs-startup-ecosystem