Israeli hi-tech district.

The year 2013 has proven to be lucrative so far for high-tech and life sciences companies in Israel. According to Globes, 20 such companies at varying degrees of maturity have been sold for a total of $4 billion thus far.

Just as surprising, 2013 is not even a record year; 2006 holds that distinction, with $10.1 billion in exits. This year’s biggest winner was traffic app Waze, which sold to Google for nearly $1 billion.

Analysts are expecting 2014 to be even stronger. In October, Barclays Capital technology M&A manager Richard Hardegree told Globes Israel could be the beneficiary of several multi-billion dollar deals in the coming year.

In Israel, “it’s possible that we’ll see two to three $1 billion-plus deals a year. We think that this is the direction, and that we’ll also see many transactions in the hundreds of millions,” Hardegree said.

According to Globes, for the decade between  2004 and 2013, Israeli companies were sold for a combined $36.2 billion.