Bloomberg News. Photo: Colegio de Estudios Superiores de Administración

With a risk-adjusted return of 7.6 percent over a 10-year period that ended Feb. 19, Tel Aviv’s TA-25 Index represented the safest bet for investors among 24 stock markets in developed countries, according to new data compiled by Bloomberg News.

Israel produced the highest return on investment despite ongoing threats from Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran, and the country’s economy grew more than twice as fast as the U.S. economy grew in 2011.

“[Israel] is surrounded by enemies, it’s always on the edge of extinction, but it expands and prospers,” noted Jewish philanthropist and former hedge fund manager Michael Steinhardt told Bloomberg.