Executive Summary

In Israel, where techno-scientific leadership is a key pillar of national security, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is acknowledged as a strategic technology – “an infrastructure of infrastructures” – with the potential to reshape military affairs, the global economy, and the distribution of power within the international system. To guarantee its national security, operational autonomy, economic growth, and the well-being of its citizens, Israel strives to establish itself as one of the top five countries in the world in the field and in related technological areas of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). The Israeli security sector plays a central role in this endeavour and in the national AI-ecosystem. Though AI and the 4IR are globally acknowledged as major military innovations of our era, and possibly even the precursors of a new revolution in military affairs (RMA), how they are about to shape future warfare and battlefields is perceived differently by different players. Israel’s interpretation of the technology’s transformative potential is reflected in the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) New Operational Concept for Victory, the Momentum Multiyear Plan, and the newly announced Data and AI strategy. Given the IDF’s advanced operational experience in the field, the Israeli approach makes an interesting case study for the ongoing strategic learning competition.

Source: Wikimedia Commons