Michael - I want to add one point re: your anti-Darwinian angle. First, on a straight cash experiment I agree entirely... Israeli tax money going to potential spray-and-pray.

But maybe there is another factor for the gov's continued support, which is employment and the spill-over effects in Israel. Every mid-level startup engineer in Israel contributes about $100K to the economy - two thirds from consumption and one third from tax...

It could also be that maybe there is an agenda to keep the best and brightest in Israel...

Who knows...