The unit, similar to the American government's National Security Agency in the Pentagon, is Israel's elite signal intelligence arm and has been credited with major successes in the ongoing war – including against Hezbollah and Iran – despite the major lapses during the run up to the Oct. 7.

The Hamas attempt to breach the unit came after an online cleaning services tender was posted for one of Unit 8200's facilities. Technical intelligence materiel seized in Gaza during later IDF activities revealed that Hamas had discovered this cleaning tender and used it as a potential pathway to access the Unit 8200 installation.

The tender was immediately put on hold and the IDF issued directives to strengthen protocols for military publications on public internet platforms.

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Chinese government-linked hackers accessed communications data from phones belonging to Donald Trump's family members and associates, according to a widening investigation reported by The New York Times. The investigation, launched two weeks ago, initially focused on breaches affecting Trump and JD Vance's personal phones. It has now expanded to include Trump's son, Eric Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, among the targets, reports the Guardian.

According to sources from The New York Times, fewer than 100 individuals were targeted in the sophisticated hacking operation, which compromised telecommunications company systems. The targets included members of Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign staff, diplomatic and policy experts, and an aide to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

FBI investigators have found evidence that audio communications were compromised, with hackers potentially accessing unencrypted text messages and call logs on certain devices. The breach could provide Chinese intelligence valuable insight for potential influence campaigns.

Eric Trump blamed the security breach on the current administration, saying, "Does this surprise anyone? Under Kamala and Biden, China has walked all over our country." His response echoed a Trump campaign spokesman's statement from last week claiming the Democrats would "stop at nothing...to prevent Trump entering the White House."

The Trump campaign was notified that the Verizon network had been infiltrated, potentially exposing personal data linked to the former president, his running mate, and various government officials and private citizens.

US authorities have attributed the targeted breach to actors affiliated with the Chinese government. Western cybersecurity experts point to a group called Salt Typhoon, known for conducting sophisticated operations for Chinese intelligence. US security officials previously blamed the group for accessing the country's telecommunications system earlier this year. Recent discoveries show the hackers were targeting specific cell phone numbers, though it remains unclear whether they could access text messages, particularly those sent through encrypted services.

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Ten former Israeli intelligence agents were among survivors of the boat disaster on Italy's Lake Maggiore, a report said on Tuesday.

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According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, 10 Israelis survived the accident and were rushed back to Israel on a military plane. The report said that a retired Israeli security forces officer was among the four dead after a tourist boat capsized on Sunday evening.

Two Italian intelligence agents and the boat owner's wife were also among those killed in the disaster, according to the daily.

"Eighteen of the 20 survivors were intelligence agents, either in the present or in the past," the report said, adding that the Italians were also quickly evacuated from the emergency rooms and hotels "so as not to leave a trace."

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of a 50-year-old Israeli citizen. His family has been notified.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin might order his troops to use more aggressive methods to conquer Ukraine because of its lackluster performance so far, NBC News reported on Tuesday.

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According to the report, which is based on what former and current US officials to the network, the Russian leader "is growing increasingly frustrated by his military struggles in Ukraine and may see his only option as doubling down on violence."

"This is somebody that's clearly been caught off guard by the size of the Ukrainian resistance," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said on MSNBC. "He has isolated himself. He's not been in the Kremlin very much. ... You've got less and less inputs, and these inputs are from sycophants."

The network further said that Western intelligence agencies are analyzing Putin's every move to pick up behavioral shifts and it appears that his overall conduct and mindset have changed despite there not being any intelligence to suggest that he is mentally unstable.

"The US has solid intelligence that Putin is frustrated and directing unusual bursts of anger at people in his inner circle over the state of the military campaign and the worldwide condemnation of his actions," the network said, based on what the sources said.

"He is no longer the same cold-blooded, clear-eyed dictator that he was in 2008," former CIA Director John Brennan said. Another Western diplomat said Putin was increasingly insulated and misinformed. "We don't believe he has a realistic understanding of what's going on," the diplomat said.

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She fled Iran in the 1980s, trekking hundreds of miles in extreme cold, evading the Iranian border police and wandering in the desert to make it to Israel. Today, "S" goes back to Iran via a slightly different path – through the technology at her disposal as a soldier in Unit 9900 of the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman), where she is tasked with analyzing Iranian topography.

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After her brother received his enlistment notice to the Iranian army, S' mother decided to move with her children to Israel. "It started with the enlistment notice, but really didn't end there," says S, looking back. "The authorities in Iran were not accepting, to say the least, of Iranian citizens trying to flee Iran, certainly not to the "Zionist entity."

S' family joined a group of families that for months planned to escape together. In the period leading up to the escape, S and her family maintained a low profile, rarely leaving their house. Ultimately, the long months of preparation culminated on the last night they spent with their grandfather. They packed a bit of food, some water, and understood they were on the verge of an arduous journey, large parts of which would have to be on foot. "It's an unfathomable distance – almost like walking from Tel Aviv to Eilat twice," she said.

At first, everything went according to plan, but just as it seemed things were going to be fine, came the hardest moment of her life. "One very dark night, in the middle of the desert, my father asked us to go on without him. I froze in place. I was paralyzed. I couldn't move. How do we go on without him? What will come of him?"

The young S was not prepared to bid her father farewell. "After deliberations, my mother convinced my father to continue. It was a moment I will never forget," she says.

Following days and nights of intensive trekking, with very little food and water, S and her family crossed the Iranian border into a neighboring country. Several days later, they met an Israeli representative who told them there was a direct flight to a country in Europe, but that not everyone could board the flight. "It's a huge dilemma. Do we take the opportunity and leave some behind, or take the risk and wait for the next flight that no one has promised will ever come?" she recalls.

After agonizing deliberations, they forfeited the flight and decided to wait as a group. Every night, they hoped the next day would bring them the flight to take them to Israel. Several weeks passed before they eventually boarded a flight to Europe, finally allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief. It was the first time on the journey that they were not in danger of being apprehended. From the perspective of S, however, the concern hadn't dissipated. "Even when we were outside of Iran, we didn't have the courage to take off the hijab (the veil worn by many Muslim women). The fear is ingrained."

Ultimately, S and her family immigrated to Israel and overcame the difficulties. Today, S serves in Unit 9900, analyzing and researching the place she once called home.

She gathers the most up-to-date intelligence information, deciphers it and identifies topographical changes – intimately familiar with every inch and stone in Iran.

"I still live in Iran. With the help of advanced technologies, today I can use my knowledge to defend the State of Israel. I appreciate the opportunity to live in Israel every single day. This is the closing of a circle for me."

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The death of a Syrian intelligence official – allegedly by Israeli sniper fire – could mark a new phase in Israel's war against Iranian entrenchment in neighboring Syria. 

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Syria's state-run SANA news agency said that Madhat al-Saleh – senior adviser to President Bashar Assad – was fatally shot on Saturday in Ein el-Tinneh, a village along the Israeli border in the Golan Heights where he ran a government office. According to Al-Jazeera, he was shot dead by an Israeli sniper. 

Israeli media said Al-Saleh had been working with Iran to establish a front against Israel on the Golan border. 

The Israel Defense Forces did not comment on the matter, but if the Syrian claim is true, it would mark the first time Israeli snipers have been known to kill an Iranian-linked target across the border. The alleged assassination might be part of Jerusalem's ongoing efforts to prevent permanent Iranian military presence on the Golan border for attacks against Israel. 

Al-Saleh had previously spent 12 years in an Israeli prison for security-related crimes. A year after his release in 1997, he moved to Syria, was elected to the parliament, and served as an adviser to the government, focusing on the country's efforts to regain the Golan Heights, which have been under Israeli control since 1967.

Yoel Guzansky – a senior fellow and expert on Iran at the Institute for National Security Studies – said it was not a sure thing that Israel had even been involved and that Al-Saleh was not an especially valuable target and also had tense relations with Iranian proxy Hezbollah and objected to the group's activities in the Golan.

But he said that if Israel had indeed killed Al-Saleh through an unprecedented sniper attack, it sent a powerful message to Iran and Syria about their activities near the Israeli border.

"It says that we have many ways and many techniques," he said. "We're watching you."

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The revelation of the operation to find information on missing IAF navigator Lt. Col. Ron Arad's fate has led to a confrontation between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Haaretz reported on Thursday.

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Existing tensions reportedly came to a head after Bennett disclosed the operation without consulting Gantz first.

According to Haaretz, Gantz was informed of Bennett's intention to reveal the operation only a few minutes before his speech in the Knesset on Monday.

Political sources indicated that Gantz was behind the media presentation of the operation as a failure shortly after it was exposed by Bennett. A source close to the prime minister told Haaretz that Gantz's attitude was "abnormal."

Channel 12 News reported that the Mossad had not opposed Bennett's desire to report the operation.

"Thanks to the operation, high-quality intelligence was gathered, obtained, and will direct us to places that we did not know before the operation," a security source told Channel 12. "It will help us understand what happened to Ron Arad."

This article was first published by i24NEWS

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The blue door opened, and a senior officer declared a moratorium on leave. A., then a young intelligence analyst in charge of the Syrian theater, was just about to go home on a 72-hour leave after 11 days on base, in accordance with the usual military leave regulations.

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"A few hours later I was sitting at a briefing, and I was shocked by what was about to happen. If the people of Israel had been aware of what was going on, they would have said – wow," he tells Israel Hayom.

Now A. is 36, serving as a major in Intelligence Unit 8200 and in charge of recruiting Druze to the unit. "I stayed on base for another two weeks, then went home for 48 hours for a change of clothes, then stayed another two weeks. All in all, I spent six weeks on base, and I did it happily. When you're busy doing such meaningful things, everything else pales in comparison."

What exactly was being done that required him to such devotion? A. can't say exactly. He just describes, with shining eyes: "It's something that has an influence on Israel to this day. It's a terrible threat that could have materialized. I can't describe in words the feeling of satisfaction you get when you achieve a strategic hit against an enemy."

He grew up in a Druze village in the north, the youngest son in the family. His older brother served in the Armored Corps; A. ended up in the Intelligence Corps by chance.

"I got a phone call telling me I was placed in Intelligence. I had no idea what that meant," he says.

In 2003, together with four other young Druze, A. was recruited to the unit responsible for collecting intelligence and deciphering codes – a unit he had never heard of. "We were pioneers. Until then, Druze hadn't been involved in the heart of intelligence work. They'd be recruited to serve on a designated base in the north, which has closed in the meantime."

During boot camp and in his first period at the unit, when he was asked his name he would alter the pronunciation so it wouldn't sound Druze. Today, he pronounces his name proudly, using the correct Arabic pronunciation. "It took me a while to take pride in being Druze. That happened after I realized how indispensable I was to the unit. Suddenly people are coming to your room when you're not on shift and asking you for help.

"You realize that if it isn't you, there's no one else. Others in the unit trust you, they ask for your opinion. That's not something I was familiar with in the culture in which I grew up. At the unit they ask you to instruct, train, develop a plan, correct someone else. When was I ever treated like that before?"

In addition to discovering his hidden talents, A. also improved his Hebrew. If at first he would think in Arabic, translate it to Hebrew mentally, and hesitate before opening his mouth to speak, today he speaks fluently and confidently and his Hebrew his eloquent. While serving, he completed a BA and an MA in political science, married a girl from his village, and together they're raising twins, now seven years old.

Nine years ago, he left the on-the-ground intelligence work and took on a new role: scouting, recruiting, and selecting Druze for the unit and mentoring them.  When I ask if after accomplishing the "nuclear reactor" mission in Syria he decided to find other challenges, he smiles involuntarily, but doesn't answer the first part of the question.

"My goal is for every young Druze to hear about 8200 before enlisting, so he doesn't end up there by chance, like I did. Succeeding in that is just as satisfying as cracking any code."

Over the years, A. developed a wide network of contacts in the Druze community, and today he is often approached by young Druze about to be drafted and their parents. His name is whispered in admiration and his mobile phone number is passed around as a safe contact for consultation and assistance before joining the army.

He delivers lectures at Druze high schools, teaching youth about the advantages of serving in the unit, responds to youngsters who call him up even late at night, and is well-acquainted with school principals and parents of students. He also works to maintain good relations between the community's leaders and the unit's commanders.

Once a year, on the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha), the commander of Unit 8200 visits Sheikh Muafak Tarif, leader of the Druze community. Next, the commander visits the home of one of the unit's Druze soldiers, whom he awards a certificate of excellence. Thanks to A.'s intensive activity, within a decade the number of Druze serving in 8200 has doubled. For this achievement, he recently received an award from the Chief of Military Intelligence.

A. continues to accompany the young soldiers throughout their service in the unit, as deputy commander in charge of all the Druze soldiers. They go to him with any problem, seeing him as a kind of father figure. "I listen to them, understand their difficulties and try to push them forward, to study, to complete a BA and an MA as the unit encourages them to do, to go on to serve as officers and in more senior positions.

"Today, the most senior rank any Druze holds in the unit is major, like me. My dream is to see the youngsters I recruited overtake me. There's nothing that would give me greater satisfaction. A few years ago, I went to shop for groceries at a fruit market in one of the villages. At one of the stands, the seller was a teen who recognized me, like a lot of Druze recognize me on the street.

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"He said he was interested in the Intelligence Corps and we exchanged phone numbers. He passed the selection process and today he's career army, soon to complete an MA. He's one of the most devoted soldiers in the unit and he makes a major contribution to the state. The boy who once sold fruit in the market now has a toolbox that will help him support a family and succeed in civilian life. I believe a day will come when 8200 will have a Druze commander."

The advantage of a young Druze in the intelligence arena is not just that Arabic is his mother tongue, but that he understands all the region's different dialects. "Every young Druze knows the Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian, and Egyptian dialects, because we watch TV series from those countries."

A. describes the problems young Druze face in the unit. He says that alongside linguistic and cultural misunderstandings, the distance of the bases from home is a challenge. "Some of the intelligence bases are located at the far away in the south, and some of the Druze villages are far away in the north. It isn't easy travelling four hours in each direction.

"The unit tries to help with rides and make it easier for soldiers serving far from home. The vast majority of young Druze don't leave their villages. I can't even imagine leaving, either."

Another difficulty is that soldiers in the unit are sworn to secrecy and can't share the details of their work with friends and family members. "Everyone wants to brag and show off what a hero he is, but in this unit you have to keep your mouth shut. There were many times when I sat with family or friends who were analyzing the situation in the Middle East, and sometimes the conversation is about classified events that were published abroad. You sit there, staring or looking at your phone and you can't voice an opinion. You can't confirm, you can't smile."

Q: But when I asked you about a reactor in Syria you smiled.

"I smiled? No, I didn't. I smiled because it wasn't true," he elegantly sidesteps the question.

One of the things A. says he discovered in the unit was the culture of reading. He was in command of 30 soldiers, and he noticed that between shifts, they would all read books. "I realized they were so talented and successful because they read, and I started reading too. That curiosity that leads you to investigate things, to never take things for granted, is a very important asset that I was less familiar with growing up, and is very characteristic of the unit."

A. shows off his very well-developed back for the camera. Not the kind of muscles you would expect from the typical 8200 nerd. A. laughs, but explains that he began researching sports and nutrition – thanks to the curiosity he acquired in the unit. He gets up at 5 a.m. for an hour of crossfit exercise, then usually works out again for another hour in the evening.

When he retires from the army ("a very, very long time from now, as far as I'm concerned I can stay in this position forever") he dreams of becoming a school principal, or doing some other job working with young Druze. "The satisfaction in this field is immense. It isn't always easy. During the period when the youngsters are getting their test results – I'm under a lot of stress. The ones who don't pass the selection process, I go on helping them find other units in the army. I explain that no one is better than anyone else, but that everyone has something special to contribute and needs to find the right place for themselves."

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Anyone who deals with technology, or is familiar with it, can't remain indifferent to what is happening in the IDF's Unit 8200. The technological breakthroughs, the intelligence superiority, the advances – these all position the unit, and Israel, as a world leader that is at the same level as the US, Russia, or China. 

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The public is virtually unaware of all this. By its very intelligence/operational nature, 8200 mostly operates in the shadows. When it makes headlines, it's usually in a less-than-positive context, one that focuses on the typical profile of the soldiers who serve in it or the enormous salaries its veterans earn when they enter the world of high-tech. 

Very little is said about the unit's real work, or how important that work is to Israel. This has to do with a genuine concern about losing assets or exposing intelligence to the enemy, thus hurting the enormous superiority of intelligence Israel has over its enemies (and sometimes, its partners). So this interview is a rare and one-time peek into the unit's activity and the future of the technological world it operates. 

In an exclusive interview to Israel Hayom, Col. Y., deputy commander of the unit's digital operations, reveals that the unit has made a breakthrough in its ability to identify targets automatically, which he says will comprise a dramatic blow to the enemy's abilities in the wars to come. He also shares details about how Israel is handling Iran and Hezbollah, saying, "There is no technological-intelligence problem that does not have a solution." 

Y. is married to Michal, whom he met while they were both serving in the unit, and they have two young daughters. He grew up in Rishon Lezion, enlisted in 8200 and has remained there while rising through the ranks. He has served as head of planning as well as commander of one of the unit's centers of operations, as well as intelligence aide to both Aviv Kochavi (now IDF chief of staff) and Herzi Halevi when they were heads of the Military Intelligence Directorate. Y. has a BA in law and history from Tel Aviv University and an MA in business administration from TAU and an MA in public policy from Harvard. A decade ago, he was awarded the Israel Security Prize for his work in promoting the unit's cyber capabilities.

According to Y., 8200 has undergone dramatic changes in the past few decades. He points to four main reasons: The first has to do with the "red" site, the enemy. "When I arrived, the enemies were mainly state entities. We were a passive unit that operated mostly based on the lessons of the [1973] Yom Kippur War. Today, on the spectrum from the Iranian nuclear program to a lone terrorist in Judea and Samaria, from states to terrorist armies, the difference is endless, and there is no one recipe for how to do it correctly." 

The second reason stems from the "blue" side – us. "The time between wars demands a completely different pace from the organization. We used to deal with warnings about a war, and a few times a year we'd have to provide backup for a special operation. Today we take offensive action nearly every day. The issue of partnering on operations is also different. In the past, 8200 served only the strategic echelon. The first time I arrived at a field command center, I was already a seasoned major. Today, our intelligence serves the field. I'm friends with battalion commanders, and cooperate closely with them. 

The third reason is changes to technology. "We started out by listening. Nasser and Hussein talked, and we'd listen to the conversation using some tools or others. Today it's a completely different kind of intelligence. When I have access to your computer, I get things that you never planned to communicate to anyone else in the world. It's a transition from passivity to activity, and that's a totally different kind of intelligence. The amount of valuable intelligence in the world hasn't changed, and secrets remain secret – but it's now much more complicated to extract them."

Q: More complicated? 

"When my grandfather wanted to tell the universe something, he would pick up his dial telephone and talk. Same for leaders. Anything they had to say to the world, they said on the phone. Today, anyone who understands a thing knows to keep away from digital media as much as possible, and we need to maneuver through an endless quantity of background noise and know to separate the wheat from the chaff," Y. says. 

The fourth reason is related to who and how intelligence is created. "There aren't any more new immigrants from Arab countries or children of [those immigrants] who speak Arabic at home. Today, these are kids who are taken out of high school who don't know a word of Arabic or Farsi, and you teach them everything they know. We've also had to reorganize, become multidisciplinary, in order to better use the intelligence," he explains. 

All these have led to a revolution within 8200. In the past, the unit was mainly focused on collecting intelligence. Today, it also deals with utilizing it. This is also how labor is divided between the unit's two deputy commanders: Y deals with the intelligence his counterpart is tasked with collecting. An immense amount of information comes in daily from a variety of sources (computers, cellphones, correspondence, apps, bugging, and more), and it all requires analysis and mostly the ability to prioritize and triage. 

"The technology of how to become a digital organization and how to correctly make the most of masses of data exists in the world. But I can't go to Google or Facebook or Microsoft and take it from them, or bring in a company like McKinsey to help me do it right. In this world, every organization is on its own. We had to do everyone alone." 

Q: Do you have intelligence lacunas? 

"There's no lack of data here. On the whole, there is no target that can't be cracked, given the appropriate effort." 

Q: Explain. 

"In this world, the defender and the attacker have different missions. The defender needs to protect what is often an unlimited space. The attacker needs to find one weak link and use it to penetrate. In my experience – and I have some perspective – the moment we've decided that a certain target was valuable enough, [cracking it] became feasible, even if it took a few years and huge amounts of IQ." 

Q: The enemy is learning, too. 

"And it's a crazy competition to learn. The enemy aren't idiots. They see things. They ask questions. They want to understand how exactly we got to a certain place and managed to attack it. It's a constant challenge that requires us to keep moving all the time. It's a challenge that is becoming more complicated, because we used to talk about a golden source or golden piece of intelligence, and today we have a huge variety of sources. The key is to know how to make the most of them, work them, get something out of them." 

The event that led to a dramatic change in the enemy's understanding of Israel's capabilities was the operation that snuck the Stuxnet malware into the computer system of Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, interfering with its centrifuges. 

"That event, and especially after the Snowden incident. The world has emerged from the cyber dark ages. Today, everyone knows everything. It requires us to improve. Happily, the technological vector leads to more platforms and more connections, which as far as we're concerned are more potential springboards for attacks." 

Q: You said that the enemy understands. That they aren't stupid. So how do you manage not to get exposed? 

"There are entire systems that have existed here for years whose job it is to ensure that we defend our strategic assets and our methods." 

Israel is a cyber superpower, and 8200 is its engine. "I don't want to hand out grades. You can debate about whether we're in the top three or top five, but we're in the big league. I say that with confidence, and also with reservations – what we have is not trivial. It's fragile. And we need to work hard every day to protect it." 

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Y. says that this rests, first and foremost, on people. "This organization's biggest success is the quality of its people. This is very prominent when compared to our partners overseas. We can take any 18-year-old, put them through an intensive series of tests, make exact choices about who is most talented and brilliant, pay them a standard military salary of $300 a month, and assign them to cope with the most complicated cyber challenges and the most complicated intelligence questions, all in a dynamic environment and under commanders who give them a sense that they can do it. It all comes down to this. Ultimately, it's the corporals and lieutenants who lead this organization."

Q: How hard is it to get them to extend their service, given the temptations in civilian life? 

"The temptations and competition 'outside' are currently fantastic. People get offers that are several times more than what they make here. I stayed in the army for two main reasons: because it's the most interesting thing I've done in my life, and because I've met the best, most talented people I've ever encountered here. People stay because it is meaningful. They have the ability to influence, they have a broad scope of management while they are still very young. A young guy can command hundreds of people here, with operational missions 24/7, with insane technology and challenges. This is what keeps people here. We can never compete when it comes to money." 

Q: There have been reports that people are trying to steal not only your personnel, but also your secrets. 

"We're aware of the dangers that have increased, among other things, because of greater involvement in offensive cyber capabilities. Here we have people whose job it is to ensure that our secrets remain with us, and people don't do things they aren't supposed to do." 

Q: How disturbed are you by the current outrage over the Israeli offensive cyber industry? In the end, anyone who goes after them could come after you.

"We operate under the authority of and with the permission of the Israeli government, and the highest echelons know what we do and are updated on it. And we have made the choice not to be in contact with the civilian offensive cyber firms." 

Q: Why? 

"It's a strategic decision we made. The bottom line is, we prefer to cut ourselves off from them." 

Every mission 8200 carries out is approved by the topmost echelons of both the IDF and the government Y. says that in that respect, there is no difference between cyber actions and battle offensives, or the launch of weapons at enemy targets. 

"There is a lot of similarity between the process of getting a physical action approved and the process of approval for a cybernet one," he says. 

Intelligence is collected in a variety of ways: online, from the air, from the sea, on land, and more. It is fed into the MI Directorate's information database, which includes the vast majority of data that exists in the IDF. It was established to make the most of intelligence, what the IDF knows about the enemy. 8200 has been made responsible for this process, and its role includes recording the information, analyzing it, and disseminating it to various officials. 

During Operation Guardian of the Walls in May, an innovative new machine was tested for the first time. "We implemented capabilities that we have developed here when it comes to listening, test, pixels, and how all these are structured, and the ability to work them and make them accessible in a way that is relevant to making operative decisions such as deciding on targets." 

Q: Be specific. Does this machine know how to create targets on its own? 

"Take, for example, a hole used to fire rockets. It's not enough that I collect information about various sensors. I need to locate disturbances on the ground ahead of time. If someone is digging, moving dirt, maybe there's a stretch of fabric covering it to hide the activity, or someone plants something, covers it, and leaves. I operate a super-heavy algorithm about all the visible information collected through a variety of means – from satellites to lookout points – locate the disturbance, find the cloth – which looks no different from any clothesline in Gaza – locate the number of days the digging took place, and can integrate all this with intelligence from other sources and make it into coordinates. 

Q: And still, 4,000 rockets were fired at Israel. 

"This is a new machine that has only been in operation a few months. This means we have a machine, we have a system, and it works. It's not hermetic. But I think that with the system we've developed, we can overcome this challenge." 

The system Y. is describing is called "Gospel," and it is an application that recommends targets. "You receive automatic target recommendations. This doesn't cancel the need to research targets, and it doesn't eliminate the need for analysis, but the system provides recommendations. During Guardian of the Walls the system alone created hundreds of new targets in only four days." 

Q: Is it also effective 'between wars'? 

"Between wars, we try, for example, to map the Iranian presence in Syria. For that, we need to do smart geography, using endless sensors that give us a work surface that serves as a base for researchers who identify the Iranians' points of equilibrium. The Iranian operation in Syria is super secret. Everything is secret, encoded. They understand that they are under attack and are doing everything to conceal themselves. Still, we are managing to put together a pretty decent puzzle. These are things we couldn't have done in the past."

The flood of information demands that Y. and his people handle an enormous amount of intelligence items every day, in different countries and in different languages. "In the past, even if you'd given me another 1,000 soldiers who speak different languages, it couldn't have been done. Today, I can activate smart logics, like speech-to-text, and extract what is most valuable from the millions of items that I collect, and send just these along to my people. It's phenomenal." 

Q: That's where you are? Anyone who uses translation programs knows they have a lot of failures and mistakes.

"That's exactly the difference between us and civilians … we need to know how to aim precisely with all these raw materials, and we can't make mistakes because they are a basis for decision making. There could be a specific section of one conversation out of millions that if I don't locate, will be swallowed up by the information we have here. We can't miss anything." 

Q: And how do you handle the challenges from the other side, from encoding to the use of code words? 

"That's the core of our challenge, and we need the best people on it. There are areas where to stay in the loop we need to be the best in the world." 

Q: Such as? 

"In the cyber world, for example. The world of digital technology. This is why our applications and algorithms need to be the best in the world." 

'We are a national treasure' 

Y. thinks that we are still in the midst of the cyber revolution, and it could go on nearly forever. Despite the huge advances, there are plenty of questions and problems that remain unsolved. During Operation Guardian of the Walls, it was important to the government to locate Hamas' Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar and kill them. 8200 played a major part in that challenge, but could not make a breakthrough. "We were partners in that effort. There are intelligence questions that are really tough, and I won't say whether or not we're close."

Q: The proof is in the pudding. 

"No argument. And this isn't the only example. Again, the other side is very aware of the threat." 

Q: But there are places where you can't get it wrong. The Iranian nuclear program, for example. You can always take out Sinwar. With Iran, you won't get a second chance." 

"I repeat what I already said: in my experience in my 24 years in this organization, given the right investment of energy and resources, there is no target that cannot be cracked. Period."

Q: Including Hezbollah's precision missile project? 

"That's an excellent example of no target being uncrackable, if enough is invested. It requires constant maintenance." 

Q: In the end, you're expected to provide advanced warnings. During Guardian of the Walls rockets went flying at Jerusalem, and Israel was surprised. 

"Warning is our most basic mission, but apart from collecting intelligence it requires things like interpretation and decision making. As someone who has perspective on all the major operations we've waged in Gaza, we had unprecedented superiority of intelligence during Guardian of the Walls." 

Q: With all that superiority, if you ask the average citizen, they'll say the results of the operation weren't impressive. Is that frustrating?

"I get up every morning to prevent unwanted wars, and make sure that if we are involved in a conflict, that the IDF can win it as quickly as possible. We do the maximum we can to achieve that end, but the world is dynamic, and there are factors such as the decision-making process here or just luck. Still, I can say that the IDF has fantastic intelligence. Most militaries in the world would die for the level and depth of knowledge the IDF has about our enemies." 

Q: How often do you get a piece of intelligence or a report, clutch your head, and say, 'This can't be'? 

"I'm not the right person to ask, because I really love intelligence. But it happens a lot. We get intelligence that makes you wonder, every time." 

Q: If the average citizen knew what you do here, both in terms of technology and in terms of intelligence, what would he say to himself? 

"He'd feel boundless pride. Really, really proud. There are young people here with fantastic responsibility and endless commitment, who are doing things that are insane. This place is a national treasure." 

The post 'No target is un-hackable. Period'  appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Forty-eight years after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, never-before-seen images of the IDF's 8200 intelligence unit at work during the fighting in the Sinai Peninsula have been made public.

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IDF forces were battling to stop the Egyptian army's advance. Israel suffered heavy casualties.

They received help from the 8200 personnel stationed at Babylon Base, located 40 km. (25 miles) from the Suez Canal. The unit was charged with listening in on the Egyptian military, locating anti-aircraft radars.

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The 8200 base operated around the clock to provide rapid, high-quality intelligence for Israel as the fighting continued. The technology was cutting-edge for its time, and Israel did not want to reveal its qualitative edge. For decades, the images now being published were classified.

The pictures show a team of wireless operators who were fluent in Arabic and had been briefed on how to tune in and analyze Egyptian military communications. The base also recorded reports which were transferred to the IDF's Southern Command.

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The post Pictures from Yom Kippur War declassified appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.