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BEYOND OUR BORDERS

The site has all the typical features you'd expect to find on an e-government portal, such as access to forms, bids and services, as well as contacts for senior government officials - with a few exceptions. It also has sections on "emergency war civil defence procedures" in case of a chemical attack from Iraq, and an FAQ on the Middle East crisis, with questions like "What was Operation Defensive Shield?" and "Why doesn't the violence end?"

The Israel Government Gateway provides an effective medium for informing the country's 6.5 million citizens. The country's position on the world stage has given it an edge in information technology and provided it with a pool of tech-savvy citizens.

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Only 290 miles long and 85 miles at its widest point, Israel is faced with some of the same challenges as other small countries, like Japan and Singapore - namely, a lack of natural resources. And, like Japan and Singapore, it's turned to the manufacturing sector to strengthen its economy - particularly medical electronics, biotechnology, agro-technology, telecommunications, and computer hardware and software, as well as solar energy. High-tech products account for about 70 per cent of the country's exports.