From the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE), 2020 Report:

“Women in Israel took the lead on the MIWE chart for the first time since the series began in 2017, driven by very strong scores in Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access (rank 1, score of 97.4 vs 76.6 in 2019) and Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions (rank 3, score of 80.4). This stellar performance was buoyed by a strong surge in score for ‘Support for SMEs’ from 52.7 points in 2019 to 126.0 and ‘Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs’ from 82.4 to 113.5. Women in Israeli are also making commendable inroads economically as active labor force participants (rank 9) and skilled professionals & technical workers (rank 10). An important international hub for start-ups in the high-tech sector, women in business receive support from government programs and initiatives in the form of R&D grants, start-up funding, and networking opportunities. These play a huge role in strengthening the underlying supporting entrepreneurial conditions in Israel. Data from GEM also showed Israeli women to be slightly more driven than men, by 2.3% on average, to pursue business opportunities to improve independence, economic self-reliance as well as to generate income.”