LAST week I strolled through the doors of the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow to celebrate Independence Day. Oh be still your beating hearts, Scottish nationalists - it was not Scotland's Independence Day, which would have been two months ago today if the referendum had returned a different result. Instead this was celebrations surrounding Israel's Independence Day - a country only 68 years old, yet a place which provokes intense debate around the world.

There are fit young men with ear-pieces constantly scanning the guests coming through the door, part of the security which inevitably follows representatives of Israel. Upstairs Israel's deputy ambassador in Britain, Eitan Na'eh, is receiving guests, and he explains that it was a Scotsman who signed Israel's birth certificate. Not literally of course, but Arthur Balfour, later Lord Balfour, was the Conservative politician, born in East Lothian, who wrote the Balfour Declaration, which promised the Jewish race a home in Palestine. It's been the most talked about document written by someone from East Lothian until Muirfield's letter urging golfers not to admit women.

If Scotland had become independent, it at least wouldn't have faced the odds that Israel did. Within a day, surrounding Arab countries attacked, and Israel has been fighting for its very existence ever since. Not even the most pessimistic nationalists in Scotland have ever claimed that England would send tanks over the border if Scotland had said "Yes".

So you might assume that Israel, a country smaller than Wales, and a population of 9m, must be worn down considering its neighbours wish it wasn't there. But not a bit of it. Ruth Kennedy, director of the Centre for Scotland and Israel Relations, explains that a survey puts Israel as the 11th happiest country in the world. Most of the Scandinavian countries top the poll along with Switzerland and Canada, with Ireland in 19th place while the United Kingdom is further down at 23.

The Glasgow celebrations have been organised by south side businessman Stanley Lovatt, Israel's honorary consul in Scotland. Stanley is an ebullient character, who rapidly lists the benefits of Israel for the guests. "Israel is an astonishing country buzzing with energy and confidence - a magnet for talent and investment and a cauldron of innovation.

"It has more scientists and engineers per head than anywhere else. It rejoices in the fact that it has more new high tech initiatives and start-ups per capita than any other nation, not to mention that their desalination processes have overcome a severe drought.

"In the 68 years of Israel’s independence, its population has multiplied by 10 and its economy by 100. It has absorbed millions of immigrants from more than 70 countries. Israel is breaking new frontiers in science, technology, culture and art. Despite being the only country in the world whose existence is constantly challenged and facing ongoing terrorism and wars, it has succeeded in retaining one of the most democratic systems anywhere."

I get the impression Stanley's a bit of a fan. But, em, it does face a bit of criticism does it not?

"No society in the world is flawless and obviously even with its enormous achievements from absolutely nothing, Israel is no exception. Hopefully before very long its ingenious entrepreneurs can also solve the political problems in the region," he says.

With immigration such a sensitive issue in the current EU referendum debate, Eitan Na'eh points out that Israel took in a million immigrants from Russia, and had to cope with all the strains on houses, schools and jobs that it entailed.

It's strange that Scotland, that has oil, fishing, whisky and other natural resources could not stand on its own two feet according to many No voters, yet Israel seems to flourish in what is basically a desert - and a bit of desert without any oil compared to others nearby. So Israeli scientists developed drip irrigation which allows crops to bloom in such dry areas. Israelis consume more fruit and veg per head than any other country.

The Intel processor, powering many computers, was developed in Israel. Your Kindle electronic book reader came from there as well. An Israeli company developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it allows doctors to view the small intestine from the inside for cancers.

Presumably the people who call for a boycott of Israeli products don't include that on their list.

So what else has Israel done for us, to paraphrase Monty Python. Ruth Kennedy tells me that an Israeli company is developing a toilet that needs no water and generates its own power to turn solid waste into fertiliser in 30 seconds, which will make a significant impact in developing countries.

So good stories to tell it seems, but criticism of Israel and Jews seems ever present. The Labour Party is having to investigate claims of anti-Semitism within its own ranks. Before the Scottish referendum, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon spoke at a public meeting at Giffnock and Newland Synagogue to reassure members that anti-Semitism would not be tolerated in Scotland. It perhaps explained why so many politicians and church leaders attended the Israeli Independence Day event in Glasgow. Ken Macintosh, the Scottish Parliament's new Presiding Officer was there as well as Scottish Tory deputy leader Jackson Carlaw. In another corner Glasgow council leader Frank McAveety is chatting with his predecessor Gordon Matheson, and former Archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti.

The choir from Calderwood Lodge Primary School, Scotland's only Jewish school, entertains guests with Jewish folk songs. Such is the complicated world of education, that many pupils at the school are Muslims. But not everybody is as joyous as the young children. When The Herald ran a story earlier this month about the ceremony to begin work on a new joint faith school in Newton Mearns to replace Calderwood Lodge and provide an additional primary for the Catholic community, the first comment from a reader was an angry: "More apartheid schooling in order to teach children messianic superstition. An insult to humanity."

Tolerance is still a difficult concept in today's Scotland irrespective of whether it is independent or not.