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.