While everyone now knows about Israel’s Iron Dome and its military prowess, little did we know about its secret weapon – the “Cyber Dome.” 

In 1955, David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founding father, foresaw a destiny unfolding in the expanse of the Negev Desert, near the metropolis of Tel Aviv. Little did he know that his prophecy would later become a 1,800-acre cyber security complex in Beer Sheva, Negev’s capital and Israel’s cybersecurity hub. 

Israel is a revolting force in modern warfare. As the world watches the traditional battle evolve into a digital theatre, Israel has marshalled its finest minds to build the ‘Cyber Dome,’ designed to wage warfare in cyberspace. The dome is inspired from its Iron Dome air defence system, which was deployed in 2011.

Gaby Portnoy, the  Director General of the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD) calls it the “secret sauce” noting the X factor is generative AI platforms. The development of this tech dome is fueling the blood bath between Gaza and Israel. The stakes are high for Israel as the world is watching the concept of warfare undergo a shift.

Every three years, a new generation joins the cyber defence once they complete the military in Israel. Hence, the space between man and machine is equally divided in these war rooms, noted The Week’s Namrata Biji Ahuja who recently visited the facility in the middle of camel land. 

One half is nerdy youth monitoring real-time data on multiple screens. The other half is completely digital, running on AI/ML — gathering, reading and interpreting data. Intelligence services use platforms akin to ChatGPT to filter important threats from the unlimited content flowing into the systems. These AI enabled military programmes are run by nearly 14,000 tech personnel at the Beer-Shava complex, she further stated.

AI in the Warzone

The Israel Defence was one of the world’s first to use AI to thwart threats. In 2021, the Middle Eastern country used AI broadly across an operation to identify targets. The technology was used to determine rocket trajectories based on radar information, intercepting those headed for densely populated areas.

With experience on the warfield, the state now confronts a new challenge – reigning in AI. On the current global AI leaderboard, Israel claims the fourth position, with a projected market size of $1.54 billion in 2023. 

Since April 2023, generative AI-related startups in Israel have more than doubled from 67 to 144. The total amount raised by these startups so far has reached $2.3 billion, a 2.5x increase compared to the total figure from six months ago. The largest round so far in the country’s generative AI space belongs to natural language company, AI21 Labs, which raised a $155 million Series C. The country is also home to Runway ML which was one of the first editing tools companies to integrate machine learning in 2018.

In a conversation with the tech industry’s wannabe saviour Elon Musk, the Israeli PM had mentioned about pushing forth the country to third rank globally in AI soon. Other government personalities have also aimed to parlayed Israel’s technological prowess to become an AI “superpower”. 

The defence forces have also relocated intelligence groups, including the 8200 Intelligence Unit, to Beersheva’s high-tech campus adjacent to a university that was arid fields of dirt and sand a few years ago. 

Despite the other developments, the digital rendition of the Iron Dome stands out.  Four months ago, Ronen Bar, the head of the Israeli security agency Shin Bet spoke about Tel Aviv developing the AI-powered “global cyber iron dome” system with a number of countries to identify and tackle threats.

During an annual cyber conference, Bar declared that Israel had come to terms with the fact that “winning this war with sticks and stones” was simply not feasible.