[tgs]

I don't know about "prevailing", but in my own experience the better the programmer/computer scientist the worse the opinion on Sun's technologies. Not only in Europe. In the past week or so, I have asked several people and did not get quite as strong an anti-Java statement as you have here, but I did find a consensus (more or less) that it is becoming less significant. I did not ask anyone who is currently working as a Java developer, though, and in the past those I have known tended to be enthusiasts.

Which means that a rise of the shekel rate, generally a positive sign, could have far-reaching negative consequences - making Israel a sort of Third World economy, making employment in the US and other countries with strong currencies more attractive to qualified Israelis, creating a "brain drain" etc. ... Indeed. So what is the solution? Of course this is not just Israel's problem, but that of many countries in the global economy.