Uzi Arad is an Israeli strategist and a well-known figure in foreign policy, security and strategic circles in Israel and abroad. He is a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv. Between 2009 and 2011 Arad served as the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel, and the head of the Israeli National Security Council.
Gadi Eisenkot, also spelt Eizenkot, is an Israeli general and politician from the Israeli National Unity party. He served as the 21st Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 2015 to 2019 and as of 2023, serves as a minister without portfolio in Israel's government. Eisenkot, who grew up in Eilat, pursued maritime studies and later served in the IDF's Golani Brigade. He holds a B.A. in History from Tel Aviv University and a post-graduate degree in Political Science from Haifa University. Married with five children, he resides in Herzliya. One of his sons, Gal was killed in action during the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.
Isaac Ben-Israel is an Israeli military scientist, general, politician and state official. He currently serves as the chairman of the Israeli Space Agency and the National Council for Research and Development, under the auspices of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space of Israel. He finished his service in the IDF ranked General, serving as head of the military Administration for the Development of Weapons and the Technological Industry. Between 2010 and 2012 he served as chief Cybernetics adviser to PM Netanyahu, during which period he founded the National Cyber Bureau in the PM office and launched the National Cyber Initiative. Ben-Israel is now head of the Security Studies program in Tel Aviv University, where he also heads the annual international Cyber Security conference. Between 2007 and 2009 he served as a member of the Knesset for Kadima. Ben-Israel is one of Israel's top experts on Space, Cyber and technological related security. He holds a PhD in Philosophy and a BSc in Physics and Mathematics from Tel Aviv University. In 2020, he declared that Covid-19 would play itself out within seventy days, regardless of intervention levels.
The Winograd Commission is an Israeli government-appointed commission of inquiry, chaired by retired judge Eliyahu Winograd, which investigated and drew lessons from the 2006 Lebanon War. The committee had its first plenary session on 18 September 2006 and began summoning and hearing testimonies from witnesses on 2 November of that year. On 30 April 2007 the Commission released its preliminary report, harshly criticizing key decision-makers. At the same time, it has been praised as testimony to the fortitude of Israel's democracy and ability to self-criticize, impressing even Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The final Winograd Commission report was announced in Binyanei HaUma in Jerusalem on 30 January 2008.
The Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System is the United States Department of Defense's secure intranet system that houses top secret and sensitive compartmented information. JWICS superseded the earlier DSNET2 and DSNET3, the Top Secret and SCI levels of the Defense Data Network based on ARPANET technology.
Gabriel "Gabi" Ashkenazi is an Israeli politician and former military leader. He previously served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was the Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 2007 to 2011. He was the fourth Mizrahi Jew to become Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. Ashkenazi served as a member of Blue and White in the Knesset.
Yoram Schweitzer is an Israeli intelligence official who is a senior research fellow at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and is director of the institute's Research Program: Terrorism and Low-Intensity Conflict.
The Dahiya doctrine, or Dahya doctrine, is a military strategy of asymmetric warfare, outlined by former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of General Staff Gadi Eizenkot, which encompasses the destruction of the civilian infrastructure of regimes deemed to be hostile as a measure calculated to pressure combatants, and endorses the employment of "disproportionate force" to secure that end.
United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It unifies the direction of cyberspace operations, strengthens DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integrates and bolsters DoD's cyber expertise which focus on securing cyberspace.
Cyberwarfare is the use of computer technology to disrupt the activities of a state or organization, especially the deliberate attacking of information systems for strategic or military purposes. As a major developed economy, the United States is highly dependent on the Internet and therefore greatly exposed to cyber attacks. At the same time, the United States has substantial capabilities in both defense and power projection thanks to comparatively advanced technology and a large military budget. Cyber warfare presents a growing threat to physical systems and infrastructures that are linked to the internet. Malicious hacking from domestic or foreign enemies remains a constant threat to the United States. In response to these growing threats, the United States has developed significant cyber capabilities.
Giora Eiland is a retired Major General of the Israel Defense Forces and a former head of the Israeli National Security Council. After his retirement from the public sector, he was a senior research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).
The 2011 U.S. Department of Defense Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace is a formal assessment of the challenges and opportunities inherent in increasing reliance on cyberspace for military, intelligence, and business operations. Although the complete document is classified and 40 pages long, this 19 page summary was released in July 2011 and explores the strategic context of cyberspace before describing five “strategic initiatives” to set a strategic approach for DoDʼs cyber mission.
Yoaz Hendel is an Israeli politician, journalist, author, publicist and public activist. Hendel served as Israel's Minister of Communications, as a member of Israel's Security Cabinet and Ministerial Committee for Legislation, a Member of Knesset and as Chairman of his Party. As of January 2023, Hendel is on a break from politics. He was originally elected as a member of the Blue and White alliance in 2019, before leaving to form Derekh Eretz and serve as its Chairman in March 2020. A military historian by training, Hendel previously worked as a journalist, was the chairman of the Institute for Zionist Strategies (IZS), and taught academic courses at Bar-Ilan University. Between 2011 and 2012 he served as Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was Minister of Communications from May 2020 to December 2020 and from June 2021 to the end of 2022. Hendel completed a doctorate in history.
The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) is an independent think tank affiliated with Tel Aviv University in Israel that conducts research and analysis of national security matters such as military and strategic affairs, terrorism and low intensity conflict, military balance in the Middle East, and cyber warfare.
Cyren Inc. was a cloud-based Internet security technology company that provided security services and threat intelligence to businesses. It offered a range of services including web security, DNS security, anti-spam solutions, phishing detection, ransomware protection, URL filtering, malware detection, and botnet attack prevention. Cyren also provided endpoint protection for mobile devices and Internet of Things (IoT) gateways. Major clients included Microsoft, Google, Check Point, Dell, T-Mobile, and Intel. The company announced its closure in February 2023.
Cyberwarfare is a part of Iran's "soft war" military strategy. Being both a victim and wager of cyberwarfare, Iran is considered an emerging military power in the field.
The 89th "Oz" Brigade is a brigade of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), dedicated entirely to special operations. It was established in December 2015. The new brigade, dubbed the Commando Brigade, is composed solely of infantry special-operations units removed from their previous chain of command structures to create a new tactical formation. Commanded by Aluf Mishne (Colonel) Avi Blut, the brigade operates as part of the 98th Division.
Eviatar Matania was the founder and Head of the Israel National Cyber Bureau and starting February 2015 also the founder and first Director General of the Israel National Cyber Directorate, that consists of both the National Cyber Bureau and the National Cyber Security Authority, a tenure he concluded in January 2018. Currently, Matania is a professor at the School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs at Tel Aviv University, where he also serves as the head of the MA Security Studies Program, and holds an adjunct professorship at Oxford University’s School of Government. Matania also holds consultancy roles in the fields of cyber, technological policies and strategies, and national security, and is the joint-head of the Smart Systems Initiative.
Eran Ortal is an Israeli brigadier-general (Res) and military theorist, served as the commander of The Dado Center for Interdisciplinary Military Studies. Ortal is also the founder and editor of the Israel Defense Force Dado Center journal named "Bein Ha-ktavim".
