One factor in Israel's success is a high percentage of highly educated people from Europe and the US moving there and starting businesses. Israel early on established an excellent education system. Israel ranks up near the top in the world for people with a tertiary education. One things that the Jewish communities in Europe always had was they put a high value on education. Even the poor Jewish communities in Eastern Europe had high levels of education compared to other peasants in the region.
The education gap between Israel and the rest of that region is huge. It's a problem the world over that poor people with limited access to good education have much more trouble getting ahead and developing. It's a problem among the poor in developed countries as well as the entire population in poor countries.
Poor people end up stuck in a poverty mindset and it can be very difficult to break, even when they do have resources offered to them. The most successful programs to get people out of poverty mindset is to educate the children and encourage the children to break the pattern along with providing opportunities to improve their lot.
