ARTICLE VIEWS IDF'S INTELLIGENCE UNIT 8200, NOTES GRADUATES' PROMINENCE, 'SUCCESS' IN CIVILIAN LIFE

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06530910
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: March 3, 2017
• Case Number: F-2016-01162
• Publication Date: April 17, 2014

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CITE OSC RESTON VA 582101
WARNING: TOPIC: MILITARY, TECHNOLOGY, TELECOM
SERIAL: L1N2014041726096776
BODY
COUNTRY: ISRAEL
SUBJ: (U) ARTICLE VIEWS IDF'S INTELLIGENCE UNIT 8200, NOTES
Graduates' Prominence, 'Success' in Civilian Life
SOURCE: Tel Aviv Haaretz.com in English 17 Apr 14 (U)
TEXT:
[ (U) Article by Inbal Orpaz: "The Army's MIT, CalTech and Harvard
All Rolled Into One"]
[INTERNET]
[OSC Transcribed Text]
(U) This product may contain copyrighted material; authorized use is
for national security purposes of the United States Government only.
Any reproduction, dissemination, or use is subject to the OSC usage
policy and the original copyright.
A Supreme Court justice, the director general of the Finance
Ministry, an internationally successful author, the CEO of one of
Israel's largest accountancy firms, the Economy Ministry's chief
scientist, a leading comic and the chairman of the Knesset coalition
entered an elevator. This is not the beginning of a joke. It's a
fact.
The elevator is known as Intelligence Unit 8200 of the Israel Defense
Forces. From all appearances, it's one of the surest ways to rise
into the stratosphere of the Israeli labor market. And we haven't
even mentioned dozens of graduates of the unit who have established
some of the leading technology companies in the country and hold
senior positions in high-tech.
Thanks to intensive marketing, 8200 -- the largest unit in the IDF,
which engages in intelligence activity, partly through the use of
advanced technology and languages, has become a prestigious and
well-known brand internationally. The establishment of firms such as
the software technologies company Check Point and dozens of other
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communications and information-security firms is attributable to the
technological base of knowledge accumulated in the unit. Over the
years, service in the unit has become more than just another item on
its graduates' resumes. It is now an admission ticket to tremendous
opportunities, most notably for those who were involved with
technology during their service.
The selection process for the unit is long and arduous, and ensures
that only the most talented make it. That is not in dispute. The only
question that remains open is whether the IDF, and especially its
technological units, continue to constitute a melting pot or have
they become an exclusive club for the elites. Furthermore, should IDF
units even fulfill a social function, or worry only about filling
their ranks with the best soldiers that can be recruited?
Former members of the unit and observers from the side pose the
chicken-and-egg question: Do the unit's graduates succeed in civilian
life because of their service in 8200, or are they chosen for the
unit because they bear the potential for success?
For Gilad Adin, the owner of a media company and former CEO and chief
editor of Channel 10 News, and before that a base commander in Unit
8200, the answer is clear: "Because 8200 has the right of first
choice in the army -- apart from candidates for pilot training -- it
takes those who possess high potential from the outset. It follows
that people don't necessarily succeed afterward because they served
in 8200.
Not Everyone Stays a Techie
It's true that those who serve in the unit acquire tools in the
high-tech realm, but why do some of the graduates become judges,
academics, financial experts or CEOs? They are people whom the IDF
'discovered,' so to speak, when they were just 17. The army discerned
a very high potential in them, including analytical capability, rapid
data-processing ability and quick decision-making ability. If an
intelligence unit identities the people with high potential in high
school, it's obvious that they have a good chance of going far."
Still, to Economy Ministry Chief Scientist Avi Hasson it's clear that
service in the unit went a long way toward shaping his character.
"From almost every aspect -- patterns of work, acquired skills and
social connections -- much of what I am today is due to those five
meaningful years," says Hasson, who in the past was involved in
Gemini, a venture capital fund, and is still involved in locating
candidates for a classified task in Unit 8200.
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"The people I served with in the army were among the first to enter
high-tech," he says. "In the case of certain tasks in the unit, your
everyday work is such that it's not so complicated to set up a firm
in the civilian market afterward, because you're used to solving
complex problems with limited personnel, in a short time and amid
great responsibility. When it comes to managing a start-up, Unit 8200
is a fantastic school. It's different, for example, from the culture
you find in the air force, of debriefing, processing or management.
The unit encourages independent thought. It's something that was
adopted later by many companies, a little like the culture in Google,
in which good ideas can come from anywhere."
Moreover, Hasson explains, people take from the unit patterns of
work, leadership and the ability to cope under conditions of pressure
and uncertainty. "It's useful not only for people who go into
high-tech, but also for physicians and members of other professions
in which you need to process a great deal of information in a short
time, take responsibility and make decisions while leading a team.
The unit gives you the feeling that you can do almost anything in
many different realms of content."
Adin agrees that his service in the unit exercised a dramatic effect
on his career. "Without a doubt, service in 8200 opens doors," he
says. "I never imagined that I would become the CEO of a news and
media company, but the truth is that service in an intelligence unit
prepared me optimally for work in a news company. There are many
areas of overlap between the two systems: a news company, too,
collects open and covert intelligence material, makes use of
technological and humint (human intelligence collection), analyzes
and distills information, and makes decisions about what gets
disseminated to who. People who are engaged in intelligence work are
exposed from an early age to a great deal of information, make
decisions under conditions of pressure and are responsible for
people's lives."
These capabilities are also required in other areas, Adin notes: "A
politician or a CEO also has to use people all the time to collect
information, analyze it and process it for making decisions. The work
crosses every relevant area."
Recruiting Ground
Over the years, the connections have intensified between Unit 8200
and the high-tech industry, which eagerly gobbles up its graduates.
It's hard to estimate the amount of royalties the IDF would get if it
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were to demand payment for the intellectual property that is created
in its technological units, but it would certainly be considerable.
However, in recent years it appears that the human flow is not only
from the army into Israel's advanced technology firms -- the
influence is mutual. For one thing, high-tech working methods have
been introduced into Unit 8200. The unit holds hackathons (marathon
sessions of programmers) in order to encourage innovativeness and
initiative among its soldiers. And senior figures from the Israeli
high-tech industry are in ongoing touch with the unit, not only as
reservists but also in meetings in which the opportunities available
in post-army civilian life are presented -- a privilege granted to
few in the current cruel labor market.
It goes without saying that the unit's graduates in the technological
realms are snapped up by companies after their discharge, partly
because of their relevant experience, but also in no small measure
thanks to social networking. In the high-tech industry, where
personnel are recruited largely by means of the "buddy system," one's
army buddies are the pipeline to the next well-paying job. This is
obviously invaluable for those who served in the unit, as it shapes
their career and ensures smooth high-salaried passage into civilian
life.
The unit's graduates can also look forward to a soft landing in the
realm of entrepreneurship. For example, EISP 8200, a program for
startups that was founded by an association of the unit's former
members (though it's also open to candidates who did not serve in the
unit), holds annual meetings along with other activities. It's one
more mechanism that helps the graduates leverage their experience and
connections.
Passing Over the Periphery
Regrettably, not everyone can avail himself of the wonderful
opportunities available to those who serve in Unit 8200. Data
provided by the IDF at the request of TheMarker a year ago show that
the percentage of those from Tel Aviv and the center of the country
who serve in technological roles in 8200 or in the IDF's computer and
information systems center is significantly greater than their
proportion in the armed services. In other words, soldiers from the
north and south of the country are underrepresented in the IDF's
technological units compared to their percentage of the population.
So if you're born in the center of Israel you have a higher chance of
serving in prestigious technological roles in the army then getting
into the high-tech industry and enjoying a higher salary level than
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those who live in outlying areas.
According to statistics provided by the IDF, whereas 43 percent of
the soldiers (referring to men only) who serve in the IDF live in Tel
Aviv and the center, they constitute 54 percent of the army's
programmers and members of the officer candidate academic studies
program -- a disparity of 11 percent, or 25 percent more than their
relative share in the number of IDF recruits. In contrast,
inhabitants of the geographical periphery are underrepresented in
technological roles. About 15 percent of IDF soldiers live in the
north, but only 10 percent are programmers or in the officer
candidate academic studies program -- underrepresentation of 5
percent. As for the south of the country, where 17 percent of the
soldiers live, there is 4 percent underrepresentation. Soldiers from
Jerusalem are also underrepresented from this perspective, though
more moderately.
"In large measure, the unit works with a given pool of high-school
students," Hasson says. "If you see a geographic concentration in
8200 of soldiers from certain areas of the country, that reflects
primarily the input of the education system. A large portion of the
candidate-search system works through the schools. There is no
special preference for a graduate of Leyada, say (referring to the
semi-private Hebrew University High School), but it's more than
likely that a Leyada graduate will be familiar with the unit and its
tracks as he has a brother, friend or cousin already serving in it."
Still, there is one group that has succeeded in entering the ranks of
8200 and making the leap straight into high-tech afterward:
immigrants from the former Soviet Union. This group, many of whom
arrived in Israel in the 1990s with a technological background or, in
the second generation, were encouraged by their parents to choose
scientific-technological tracks in high school, were recruited to
technical tasks in the army and became an integral part of Unit 8200.
The Russian speakers are an example of a group that demonstrated
social mobility and thereby bridged the origin gap, thanks to their
army service.
Reducing Social Disparities
The geographical dispersion of the developers in the IDF, those
destined to become the next high-tech generation, raises the question
of whether Unit 8200 should undertake as one of its missions to help
reduce social disparities and engage in affirmative action by
recruiting more youngsters from the geographical and social
periphery.
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Sources in the Intelligence Corps say that in recent years proactive
steps have been taken to change the mix of those recruited for the
coveted roles. One example is Project Atidim, which was launched in
1999 to encourage outstanding high-school graduates from the
periphery to become part of the officer candidate academic studies
program. There is also Project Kedem, which prepares high-school
students in the outlying areas to serve in the IDF's computer center.
"Every year we see more people entering the narrow circle of 8200
from different social strata in the periphery and from other
population sectors, mainly the national-religious population,"
observes Hasson, the chief scientist, who is involved in the
classification process in the unit. "The situation changed for many
reasons, one of which is quantitative -- there is an effort to get as
many candidates as possible into the initial cut. As a result, more
circles are entering and, naturally, the circles expand."
[Description of Source: Tel Aviv Haaretz.com in English -- Website of
English-language version of Ha'aretz, left-of-center, independent
daily of record; URL: http://www.haaretz.comn
(U) This product may contain copyrighted material; authorized use is
for national security purposes of the United States Government only.
Any reproduction, dissemination, or use is subject to the OSC usage
policy and the original copyright.
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