By Rabbi Dow Marmur
JERUSALEM–When terrorists were killing Israelis on buses, in restaurants and other places where people gathered, the country soon developed a system that put guards almost everywhere. The attacks abated but didn’t stop – there’re still guards around – so a wall was built that isolated the occupied territories, because the attackers usually came from there. (The protests against the wall weren’t usually about the need to secure Israel, but because it wasn’t built along the pre-1967 borders thus encroaching on Palestinian lands.)
Though terrorists still are a threat and a menace to Israel, the above measures, plus an ever improving intelligence system, have made Israel quite safe from terror. (The country, now in danger of being overwhelmed by illegal immigrants smuggled in through Egypt, is reportedly considering a similar protective wall along that border.)
Now when the danger of cyber attacks looms large over Israel, counter measures are apparently on the agenda. So far, the recently reported attacks are said to have been relatively mild, even though the Tel Aviv stock exchange, El Al and banks have been affected. Those in the know suggest that it may have been the work of nerdy teenagers who have assumed the mantel of Palestine liberation by demanding an official Israeli apology for its occupation of Palestinian lands.
As virtually everything that happens here, particularly involving Palestinians, gets international attention, much has been written about the hackers who say they come from Saudi Arabia. Little of the information can be verified.
Some, perhaps equally nerdy, Israelis have responded, but the government doesn’t consider them to be heroes. In fact Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, whose portfolio includes technology, has stated that he strongly disapproves of this kind of tit-for-tat.
But there’s much to suggest that the appropriate agencies in Israel are in the process of building what in my limited understanding may be a kind of virtual wall to protect its defense forces and civil institutions, for all are potentially very vulnerable.
Erel Margalit, an Israeli venture capitalist and blogger, has written in the Huffington Post: “There is no country better positioned than Israel to continue pioneering the field of cyber-security. It has to do with our long history of defending ourselves against cyber-attacks, but also, apparently, of our use of cyber technology in battles against our enemies, as occurred during the second Lebanon War when Israeli cyber experts had Hezbollah in their crosshairs.”
Margalit reports that “experts rank Israel as one of the top three most important centers of cyber-defense technology in the world,” and adds, “My venture capital firm has invested in several of them.”
The purpose of these reflections, however, isn’t to offer investment advice but, firstly, to alert those who may be interested in the new kind of menace that Israel is facing and, secondly, to bring comfort that it’s well equipped to meet that challenge, too.
This latest threat is yet another illustration of what it means to live in Israel: (a) there’re always new dangers to be added to the old ones that ordinary folk have to face, but (b) there’s also a sense of confidence that the dangers will be overcome to ensure a good – and often very interesting – life. Perhaps that’s why news about Israel is more troubling to people abroad than it is to those who live here.
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Rabbi Marmur is spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. He now divides his time between Canada and Israel. He may be contacted at dow.marmur@sdjewishworld.com