Crash But Not Burn

It felt a little like déjà vu on Thursday night.  My mind was transported back to February 2003 when the whole of Israel waited with baited breath as the Space Shuttle Columbia re-entered the earth's atmosphere with the very first ever Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon on board.  Despite feeling immense pride at the amazing achievements made by a tiny country and its first astronaut, the day was not to end well.  The space shuttle burned up during its re-entry to the atmosphere killing all on board in the process.  Ilan Ramon's memory remains a folk legend in Israel.  And so, too, there was disaster last night as Beresheet, Israel's first ever lunar craft, made its final approach to the Sea of Serenity.  Unfortunately another failure along Israel's route to becoming a superstar country in the area of space travel and exploration.  The quest to become only the world's fourth country to safely land a craft on the moon was not achieved yesterday by the Israeli lunar lander.

In spite of another setback for Israel in the field of space exploration, there were so many positive things that came out of Beresheet's trip to the moon that it is really difficult to see it as a failure at all.  Coming at the end of a week that also saw a general election that proved to be very divisive in many respects, it was heart-warming to see how the country and the Jewish world united in support of Beresheet.  Willing it to safely land on the surface of the moon.  Willing Israel to take up an important place as one of the handful of nations to achieve this.  This unified support was in such contrast to the previous few days over the period of the election, and would have seemed impossible only two or three days earlier.  This extended not only to those in Israel, but to Jews around the world.  We could feel a real sense of support from Jews around the world during the time of this project, something that is not taken for granted at all.

The fact that Israel became only the seventh nation on earth to send a spacecraft into orbit around the moon, is a huge achievement in itself.  And this was the very first project not sponsored by a national government, making the achievement quite unique.  This is a great response to those who use every opportunity to criticise Israel and to those who wish to destroy her.  This is the way to answer those who accuse Israel of being an apartheid state, and to demonstrate to BDS and its supporters that there is tremendous depth to Israeli ingenuity and huge desire to develop, to build and to make a real difference in science, technology and other fields.  This is the way to show that the Israel that is seen on BBC and CNN and that is castigated at the UNHRC, is not the real face of Israel.  Beresheet is a much truer face and a fairer reflection of what Israel really stands for and what she is truly about.  This shows Israel to be a nation that builds rather than destroying, and this stands in stark contrast to the lack of any positive achievements by many of Israel's enemies.

The attention that this project has drawn to the field of space travel and space exploration in Israel is almost on the scale of the attention drawn to it by Ilan Ramon and his exploits.  Surely, the interest of the next generation is almost assured in the process.  In spite of the slip-up at the final hurdle, young Israelis have been excited by this story sufficiently to ensure that they will be seeking ways of succeeding where Beresheet failed.  In the same way that we did not hear the last of Ilan Ramon when Columbia disintegrated and  he went on to become a household name and a legend, I am sure that we have not heard the end of an Israeli lunar landing.  It seems not to be coincidental that the name chosen for the spacecraft was Beresheet, the first word in the Torah with the meaning of "in the beginning".  Just as the name signifies, this seems to be just the beginning of great things to come.

Huge credit needs to go to the SpaceIL team, to sponsor and president Morris Kahn and to all those involved in the project.  They gave Israel and Israelis a dream and something around which to unite and feel proud.  And they gave thousands of Israeli children the little flame to ignite their interest and their desire and determination to ultimately succeed in the quest to have Israel successfully land on the moon.  This is a huge achievement and a very positive island in a huge sea of negativity that often surrounds Israel.

The Israeli flag and the Torah are on the moon.  They landed there with a crash rather than in the elegant way that we would have preferred.  But they are there to stay.  They may have crashed, but they did not burn.  A marker has been established, and this is certainly not the last that we will hear of Israeli ventures in space.  It is just the beginning.

Ramping Up the Cyber Warfare

The discovery last week of the latest weapon in the war being fought in cyberspace, has confirmed to me the fact that the war against Iran began some time ago.  Flame is the latest in a series of computer viruses that have been found to have infected computers in Iran's nuclear industry.  Despite Iran's consistent protests that its nuclear program is intended only for domestic purposes, the fact that it has denied access for inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to see some of its facilities is clear indication that there is something to hide.  This was reinforced last week when images were released by the US showing frantic work on the part of the Iranians to erase evidence of certain activities.

Out of all the types of warfare being undertaken, the development of nuclear weapons is one which plays into the hands of the computer experts the most.  The nuclear industry is highly dependent on computerised systems for the control of the reactors, for the operation of the centrifuges and for much of the process that enriches Uranium to levels that allows for it to be used in nuclear weapons.  For Israel, this comes as a something of a relief as few countries around the world have the same level of expertise in software and hardware as the Israelis.  Israeli engineers have established a name for themselves in developing a number of products and features in the software arena which are "firsts" in the world.  These same skills have allowed Israel to tap into much of what is happening in the Iranian nuclear industry, and to cause disruption to retard or damage the process.

Israel embraced the need to conduct cyber warfare some time ago.  It is believed that unit 8200, which was established in the 1950s as an intelligence-gathering unit using the most sophisticated electronic technologies, was the first facility deployed to use its technological capabilities to wage cyber warfare.  Since then, it is known that specialised units for this purpose have been set up by the IDF, the latest of which is addressing new media, including social networks.  Not only is the IDF focusing on attacking enemy networks and computer systems, there is a great deal of work being done to ensure that its own systems adhere to the highest standards of security.

The latest Flame virus was discovered by Russian anti-virus company Kaspersky.  Some reports suggest that Flame may have operated undetected for as long as 5 years, and succeeded in evading 43 anti-virus systems deployed on Iranian computers.  During the time that it operated on individual computers, Flame was able to send copies of data stored on the computer back to its controllers.  It was also able to take screen shots of the computer, as was as activate the computer microphone to allow eavesdropping on nearby conversations.  If it infected 1,000 computers over a period of 5 years, a great deal of information could have been collected.

Flame comes hot on the heels of the Stuxnet virus which is reported to have destroyed centrifuges that were in use in Iranian nuclear plants.  Stuxnet was discovered much more quickly because it infected many more computers and, therefore, came to the attention of the anti-virus systems much more quickly.  There can be little doubt that for every virus we hear about, there are many more that go unpublicised.

Computer systems are in use in every aspect of a modern military environment.  They are used for simple tasks like administration and data storage, as well as for more sophisticated tasks such as the command and control of the most sensitive and most destructive weapons systems.  This gives massive opportunity for those who are able to use cyber warfare effectively, to infiltrate every corner of a country's security establishment.  This is the enviable position that Israel finds herself in today.  The next war against Iran will also certainly be fought on this basis.

This war has, in fact, already begun, and may have been ongoing for as long as 10 years.  It is a war that has no room for the faint-hearted, and has a great deal at stake.  Small errors can have huge consequences, and the survival of an entire nation could be resting upon doing everything right.  When Israel was found 64 years ago, she was regarded as being at a huge disadvantage because of the small poorly-equipped army that she was able to deploy.  Despite this disadvantage, Israel has survived and turned into one of the great military nations of the world.  With the advent of cyber warfare, the game has turned very much in Israel's favour.  The most unlikely of military powers is now more in the driving seat than ever before.  A cyber war seems built to fit the strengths that Israel has.  It would be foolish of the Iranians to think that they will be able to triumph in such circumstances.

The Apple Never Falls Far From the Tree

Many were taken by surprise last week when it was announced that the Apple Corporation has decided to open a development centre in Israel.  The main reason for the surprise, is the fact that Apple's strategy to date has been to centralise all of its development effort at its corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California.  The Israeli development centre will be the first one that Apple will open outside of the Cupertino headquarters.  Has this new step been enabled by the recent departure and demise of former Apple CEO and icon, Steve Jobs?  Perhaps so.  Upon closer examination, however, it becomes clear that the direction in which new CEO Tim Cook is taking the company, is not far removed from the strategy which Jobs pursued so successfully prior to his death.

Apple's meteoric rise in recent years has largely been driven by the innovation of its range of new products.  This has not been the only contributing factor to Apple's success.  In addition to bucking the trend by developing products and features which are different and exciting in a world which is oversupplied by all manner of electronic goods, Apple has also succeeded in achieving gross profit margins in excess of 40% on its sales.  This is far higher than its peer group of hardware vendors.  The way that Apple has achieved this, is by taking full control of its supply chain.  This has not necessarily required the acquisition of key suppliers, although this has been done on more than a few occasions.  Rather, the way in which this control has been achieved is by securing large volumes of required components ahead of time.  By doing this, Apple has succeeded in avoiding seasonal fluctuations in supply volumes and prices, even though it has required a substantial commitment of capital.  It is this strategy that has led Apple to Israel, and ultimately led it to the decision to establish a development centre here.

Apple's products rely heavily on flash memory, and the company spends billions of dollars a year in acquiring these components.  Israeli company Anobit has been a supplier of NAND flash memory to Apple, and develops systems for improving this component.  Apple has decided that acquiring Anobit could save it 10-20% on its purchase of flash memory each year, and Anobit has been put firmly on Apple's shopping list.  Acquiring Anobit may also allow Apple to cut off the company's cooperation with Samsung, one of Apple's fiercest rivals in the field of smartphones and tablets.  Anobit seems also to have been a catalyst for Apple's interest in Israeli technology, and appears to have influenced the decision taken by Apple to set up a development centre in Israel.  This centre will focus primarily on semiconductor development, a field that Israeli companies have excelled in over the years.

Even though the marriage between Apple and Israeli technological development seems obvious to some, it still requires a champion within a large company to drive through an initiative of this sort.  In Apple's case, the  decision to open a development centre in Israel has been championed by former Haifa resident Johnny Srouji, who was hired by Apple 3 years ago.  He has risen in the ranks of Apple to the level of vice president.  Now, the Israeli press is full of details of the fact that Apple has been searching for premises in Haifa which are reputed to be large enough to house as many as 250 employees.  Israeli high-tech veteran Aharon Aharon has been hired to head up the new Apple development centre.

Companies such as Intel, Microsoft and Google have enjoyed tremendous success by using Israeli brainpower.  It is no secret that it was Israeli engineers who helped Intel to break through significant barriers in the development of their processors.  This has contributed, in no uncertain terms, to Intel's continued successes over the years.  Now, Apple has decided to also tap into this pool of talent to help take its products to the next level.  It is expected that Israeli expertise in flash storage could help to speed up iPhones and iPads, as well as the data transfer between them.

Apple representatives have said that the company will continue to open the new development centre even if the deal to acquire Anobit does not go ahead.  The truth is, that either one of these acts on Apple's part would come as a huge compliment to Israeli hi-tech and engineering.  Both deals being done would surely make Apple a substantial player in Israel's technology sector, and will place Israeli technology at the forefront of the world's leading-edge products.  This is a great achievement for the previous generations of Israeli engineers, and a fantastic incentive for the next generation in order to keep Israeli hi-tech to reach greater heights.

Despite the fact that Israeli technology has already received recognition as amongst the best in the world, the decision by Apple to open its first development centre outside of California is a fantastic accolade.

The Warfare of the Future

Reports have surfaced in the international media over the past week regarding a computer virus that has infiltrated computers at Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant. It has been claimed that the deadly Stuxnet virus has infected computers at the plant, which has damaged some of the reactors and delayed the program of loading enriched nuclear fuel into the reactor.

Almost simultaneous to these reports, were the claims that the Israeli secret service was involved in creating the virus and infecting the Iranian computers. The claims allege that the virus was actually intended for the Natanz plant, which is considered to have a higher risk of producing nuclear bombs. In addition, there have been assertions that the Israelis have infiltrated the supply chain for the Iranian nuclear program, and have succeeded in supplying faulty hardware for the centrifuges. The result of this is that up to 3,000 centrifuges at Bushehr have been damaged. All of this has not sufficiently affected the nuclear plant to prevent the continued enrichment of uranium, but it has certainly caused a setback to Iran's nuclear plans.

The reports suggest that this is a new development in the conflict between Israel and those Arab and Muslim countries seeking her destruction. While the world has focused on possible military options available to Israel to destroy the Iranian nuclear threat, it would seem as if the Israelis have been seeking out different solutions in an attempt to catch the Iranians off-guard. But how new is the idea of cyber or electronic warfare? Is it really a new development, or is this something that has been around for a while?

According to the New York Times, the unit in the Israel Defence Force (IDF) which is responsible for the creation of the Stuxnet virus is the 8200 unit (known in Hebrew as "shmone matayim" or eight two hundred). This is the Central Intelligence Gathering Unit of the Intelligence Corps, and is responsible for collection of signal intelligence and code decryption. This unit has been around for many years - since before the Six Day War - even though the intelligence-gathering was probably less sophisticated or hi-tech in the earlier years. This unit now oversees a dedicated unit which engages in defensive and offensive digital warfare. This is only one small part of a central pillar in IDF strategy to vigorously pursue all aspects of cyber and electronic warfare. The pursuit of options for sabotaging the core computers of foes like Iran, along with mechanisms to protect its own sensitive systems, were unveiled last year by the military intelligence chief, Major-General Amos Yadlin. Even though these public statements are new and recent, the work being done by units dedicated to digital warfare is certainly not.

A recent article in the Jerusalem Post presented details of a unit in the Israeli Air Force (IAF), the Sky Crows Squadron. This is the cyber warfare unit of the IAF that uses intelligence for two main purposes. The first is to block enemy communications and the second is to disrupt enemy radar systems. Probably the most well-known of the Crows' successes was the 2007 attack on the nascent Syrian nuclear reactor along the Euphrates River. The IAF F-15I aircraft probably could not have entered Syrian airspace and successfully dropped their payloads on Syrian radar installations and on the nuclear reactor itself, were it not for the fact that the Crows had succeeded in deactivating all Syrian air defence systems. All of this was achieved without sustaining as much as a scratch on an IAF aeroplane. During the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead, the unit was again activated but this time mostly to break into Palestinian and Lebanese TV and radio channels to push anti-Hamas and anti-Hezbollah propaganda.

During 2010, the Sky Crows Squadron will be celebrating its 40th anniversary. The IAF has been engaging in electronic warfare for quite some time already. This is one of the ways that the IDF feels that it will be able to maintain its military advantage in the Middle East, and around the world. This is particularly true during an era of an unprecedented military build-up in the region. This is best epitomised by the recent $60bn arms deal to Saudi Arabia, and the construction of the Iranian nuclear reactors. Israel is often unable to spend the same sums of money spent by her adversaries, and the qualitative military edge is what allows Israel to create its ultimate advantage.

The technological changes in our world have created an ideal operating environment that play to Israel's strengths. Communications and computer networking have become the core of our work and social worlds, and also form the backbone of military attack and defence systems. Israel is the country which was first to create a firewall to protect computer networks. Having access to brains that can protect networks from all manner of attack also means having the ability to create attacks that can overcome these protections. This technological capability is being nurtured and developed in the next generation of IDF soldiers, starting from a very young age. Israeli schools run a wide number of programs to develop computer and technology skills in children to ensure that the IDF has a wide choice of top-notch resources to call upon for its needs in the foreseeable future.

The Iranians have meanwhile predictably announced that a computer virus was not to blame for the delays at its reactors. No nation would wish to admit to having its secret installations infiltrated in such a blatant way. In an attempt to avoid further embarrassment, an announcement was issued that arrests have been made of people who are suspected to have been involved. Israel seems well positioned to take advantage of the change in the nature of military conflict. Military strength was once measured in terms of numbers of aircraft, soldiers, tanks and missiles. Military attacks were once in the form of bombs launched and weapons fired. Although this has not completely gone away, it is clear that the rules of the game are changing.

If Iran is continuously scanning its airspace in the belief that clear skies mean the nuclear reactors are safe, it seems as if it may be looking in the wrong place for the source of the real danger. Electronic warfare is set to become the military playground of the future.

Intel Inside Israel

Intel Israel has found itself in the news this week for all the wrong reasons. It is the target of threats of demonstration action by the religious community in Jerusalem after the company announced its intention to keep its fabrication plant in Jerusalem open on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath. The company's general manager, Maxine Fassberg, was involved in a series of meetings in the Knesset in attempt to avert community action against the company.

Intel as a company, and particularly its Israeli branch, should be in the news for much more positive reasons than this. Intel is the world's largest semiconductor and microprocessor producer. For those less technical, a microprocessor is an integrated circuit that contains the entire central processing unit of a computer on a single chip.

Intel's relationship with the State of Israel goes back over 35 years to 1974 when the first Intel chip design centre was established in Haifa, Intel's first outside of the US. Dov Frohman was instrumental in establishing this Intel presence in Haifa. Frohman joined the Intel Corporation in 1969, a year after it was founded. Here, he discovered the EPROM, the first semiconductor memory that was both erasable and reprogrammable. This was the catalyst that led to a long line of innovation and development that produced today's flash memory technology.

After a short break away from the company, Frohman returned to Intel in 1973 and managed to convince the management to allow him to return to his native Israel in 1974 and set up an Intel presence in Haifa. In 1985, he concluded a series of negotiations with the Israeli government to set up a semiconductor fabrication plant in Jerusalem. Frohman was general manager of Intel Israel until his retirement in 2001. He succeeded in setting up a second Intel fabrication plant in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat. During his time with Intel, he managed to establish Israel as a global centre of excellence for the Intel Corporation. Today, Intel Israel employs more than 5,000 employees countrywide and exports more than US$1 billion per annum.

The achievements of Intel Israel are considerable and legendary. It was the Israeli Intel 8088 chip that was selected by IBM in 1980 for its first personal computer (PC) which launched a new era of computing. This major breakthrough for Intel was hailed as a victory for Intel in the microprocessor wars. By 1986, Intel Israel was producing the 386 chip which was 7 times faster than the 8088. With the continued increase in the speed of chips and decrease in their sizes, a new problem was encountered. More power was required to support the increasing speed and, with it came greater heat output. This caused chips to overheat, and computers were equipped with fans to overcome this problem. For laptops, fans could not be accommodated due to size limitations and chip production had hit the so-called "power wall". The Israeli team set to work to design a chip that could go faster without needing to use as much power and thereby overcome the problem of the power wall. The new chip used a type of gear system, similar to gears in a car, that allowed the chip to work faster whilst maintaining a lower clock speed. This also limited the heat output.

When the Israeli team triumphantly presented its new invention to the Intel headquarters team in Santa Clara, they were met with a less than enthusiastic response. Wall Street analysts would value the company on the basis of the clock speeds of the chips being produced. By developing a chip with a lower clock speed (even though the chip worked faster than other chips), it went against the standard parameters used to value the company. It was a little like trying to convince diamond dealers that the number of carats in the diamond was no longer significant. The Israelis mounted a campaign to convince Intel CEO Paul Otellini and the team in Santa Clara that their chip was the only way to go. Finally, Israeli persistence paid off and the Centrino chip was released in March 2003. Although its clock speed was approximately half of the reigning 2.8 gigahertz Pentium chip, it sold for twice the price. More importantly, it gave laptop users the portability and speed that they needed. The new chip was an immediate success and became the anchor of Intel's 13% growth in sales between 2003 and 2005.

Although Intel suffered revenue losses from increased competition in the period that followed, one bright spot in 2006 was the launch of the new Core 2 Duo chip. This was Intel's successor to the Pentium and incorporated dual-core processing which came directly from the Haifa labs. CEO Otellini claimed that "these are the best microprocessors we've ever designed, and the best we have ever built", at the launch of the new chip at the Santa Clara headquarters. Although Intel's stock price was down significantly during 2006, it climbed 16% after the announcement of the new chip. Today, almost every new computer is sold with a microprocessor that is based on this technology.

It is clear that Intel and Israel have had a relationship which has benefited both. Israeli technological insight, innovation and persistence have all contributed to drive Intel to the leading position that it enjoys in the field of microprocessors. Intel has provided Israel with the ideal opportunity to showcase its best, an opportunity that Israelis have grabbed with both hands.

It seems that it is essential for both Intel and Israel that the problems currently experienced in Jerusalem be resolved as quickly as possible. Intel continues to face a great deal of competition in its market, and Israeli innovation and development is essential for its future. Similarly, the Israeli hi-tech industry needs a company like Intel to allow it to show its capabilities off in the best possible way. After managing to maintain its Jerusalem facility for more than 20 years whilst respecting the Jewish Sabbath, I certainly hope that Intel is able to find a way not to have to change this now. By continuing to respect the spirit of the day of rest now and in the future, Intel can assure itself many years of peace in the Holy City.

With acknowledgement to "Start-Up Nation" by Dan Senor and Saul Singer published by Twelve, Hachette Book Group (2009).

Hi-tech in Silicon Wadi

In its short history, Israel has developed a name for technological innovation and advancement. In this respect, Israel is often compared to the famous Silicon Valley in California which is the hotbed of world technological development. Although comparisons are validly made between the two and close connections are forged in the interests of cooperating to advance the world's technology, the truth is that the differences are as remarkable as the similarities.

Israel has been in existence for a mere 61 years. During this time, she has been forced to devote a vast slice of her human and monetary resources to fighting wars in the defence of her right to continue to exist at all. Many other countries in the same situation would have collapsed and fallen by the way a long time ago. But Israel has succeeded not only in surviving 61 amazing years, but also in developing some world firsts. Silicon Valley, on the other hand, has been the beneficiary of many millions of dollars of investment money and a stable environment to cultivate new technologies. The link has resulted in Israel gaining the nickname "Silicon Wadi" after its more famous US counterpart.

I have chosen on this occasion to focus on three amazing developments that have come out of Israel. These are true technological firsts. They are three of numerous other unique developments that have come from Israel. I hope to cover other developments separately in the future.

Telephone Transmission:
Israeli company ECI Telecom was the first to develop Digital Circuit Multiplication Equipment (DCME) in the world. This is equipment that is attached to undersea and satellite telecommunications infrastructure to allow the transmission of many more simultaneous phone calls than the infrastructure was originally designed to carry. If an undersea cable was originally designed to carry 64 simultaneous phone calls, the attachment of DCME to the cable enable the transmission of many more calls without the need to upgrade the cable infrastructure. DCME was first marketed in 1988 and is still in use by many large telecommunications companies around the world, saving many millions in infrastructure costs.

Voice over IP:
Internet Protocol (IP) is the protocol that was developed for communicating data across networks. This is more recent than the protocol that was traditionally used for communicating voice for many years before. So it was a significant development when Israeli company Vocaltec succeeded in launching "Internet Phone", the first application that truly allowed the average person to communicate using a voice call over the Internet. Vocaltec's ground-breaking technology is the base for better known applications such as Skype, Jajah, and numerous others. Unfortunately, Vocaltec was never really able to build upon its amazing invention and many other companies managed to leapfrog it whilst using its technology. But Vocaltec is universally recognised as being the first of its kind.

Camera in a Pill:
Israeli company Given Imaging is the first and only company to develop a camera that is small enough to fit into a pill that can be swallowed by a human. The purpose of the camera is to create a short video film of the inside of the patient's body, and transmit the video to computers outside the body such that physicians can analyse its details. The video can transmit images for up to 8 hours before it is expelled from the body. The technology was initially developed by Gabriel Iddan who honed his scientific skills developing missiles for the Israeli military. This technology was used and is now evident in the capsules that are being sold around the world to assist the examination of the internal workings of the human body. Recent advancements to the pill include the ability to "control" the movement and location of the capsule inside the body. In this way, doctors can focus on particular areas and gain extended exposure of certain critical parts of the body in a way that was not possible before.

These remarkable stories show that it is possible to make an impact on the world and to create business opportunities, even in the absence of natural resources or a classic stable working environment. Sometimes big dreams, hard work and great ideas are enough to make the world sit up.

I hope that the above stories have created an appetite for additional Israeli technology stories. I hope to be able to discuss other stories in the future.