Unit 8200

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Signals intelligence and cyber-warfare unit of the Israel Defense Forces

Unit 8200

Logo 8200 unit logo.png
Unit 8200 insignia. IDF / KariEllien, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Type Signals intelligence (SIGINT), cyber warfare
Founded 1948
Headquarters Camp Glilot, north of Tel Aviv
Area served Israeli military and intelligence operations
Services Signals intelligence, code-breaking, cyber operations
Key people Brigadier General “A” (name withheld; commander from March 2025)
Remarks Hebrew name: יחידה 8200; History: 1948–present (as Unit 848 until 1976); Country: Israel; Military branch: Israel Defence Forces; Command structure: Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman); Other names: Central Collection Unit; Israeli SIGINT National Unit (ISNU); Command role: Current commander

Unit 8200 is the signal intelligence and code deciphering arm of the Israel Defence Forces. It is the largest unit in the IDF and is headquartered at Camp Glilot, north of Tel Aviv.[1] Until recently, it was usually referred to in public as the Central Collection Unit.[2] According to Israel Hayom, Ynet and HuffPost, Unit 8200 is the Israeli Sigint National Unit referred to in National Security Agency (NSA) documents released by Edward Snowden.[3][4][5] It operates under the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate, and is broadly comparable in function to the US National Security Agency.[6]

The unit has been linked in published reporting to the Stuxnet, Flame and Duqu cyber-attacks, the intelligence that led to the 2007 strike on the Syrian reactor at al-Kibar, and the 2024 pager attacks in Lebanon. Since 2014 it has faced growing criticism over its mass surveillance of Palestinians, its storage of intercepted Palestinian phone calls on Microsoft cloud servers, and its role in AI-assisted targeting in Gaza. Its veterans are prominent in the Israeli and global technology industry, including in the spyware and private intelligence trade.

History

Unit 848

Prior to 1976, the unit was known as Unit 848.[7]

Masrega

Masrega was a Cold War-era unit within Unit 848 focused on the Soviet Union.[8]

Masrega personnel
Person Role and dates
Nehemiah Burgin head of the Translations Desk, c.1973.[9]

1973 Yom Kippur War

Col. Yoel Ben-Porat commanded the unit (then Unit 848) during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[7] According to a 2019 study by the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich, it was following the war that the unit "adopted its modern form", and its general organisation has remained fairly stable since.[10]

Autonomy recommendation

In 2004 a Knesset committee recommended turning the unit into an autonomous entity separate from the Defense Ministry, along the lines of its US equivalent, the National Security Agency.[1]

Syrian reactor, 2007

According to Der Spiegel, the NSA noticed unusually heavy telephone traffic between Syria and North Korea, including a link between Pyongyang and al-Kibar in eastern Syria, and passed a dossier to Unit 8200, which flagged the site for further intelligence work. Israel destroyed the facility in an air strike in September 2007 ("Operation Orchard").[11] Israel officially acknowledged the strike in 2018.[12]

Cyber-attacks: Stuxnet, Flame and Duqu

UPI reported in June 2012 that Unit 8200 had been involved in the Stuxnet and Flame cyber-attacks:

Unit 8200 is widely seen to have been a key player in the Flame cyber attack on Iran, and some Arab states, in recent weeks.
It was also deeply involved in the ground-breaking Stuxnet malware attack on Iran's uranium enrichment program, a vital element in the quest for nuclear weapons, in 2009-10 that U.S. officials say was jointly mounted by Israel and the United States.[13]

In June 2015 the security firm Kaspersky Lab disclosed "Duqu 2.0", a successor to the Duqu malware, which had infected hotels used as venues for the P5+1 nuclear negotiations with Iran. The Guardian reported that the virus was linked to Israel; Israel denied involvement.[14] The ETH Zurich study lists Stuxnet, Flame and Duqu among operations attributed to the unit.[10]

Syria chemical weapons intercepts, 2013

In August 2013, the German magazine Focus claimed that Unit 8200 had intercepted communications which showed that the Syrian regime was responsible for poison gas attacks near Damascus. Focus attributed the assessment to a former Mossad officer.[15][16][17]

7 October 2023 and the Sariel resignation

Unit 8200 was among the Israeli intelligence bodies criticised over the failure to anticipate the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023. Its commander, Brig. Gen. Yossi Sariel, informed the Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, of his resignation in September 2024, saying "I did not fulfill my mission".[18][19] He formally handed over command on 11 March 2025 to a successor identified only as Brigadier General "A", using his farewell speech to accept responsibility for the failure.[20][21]

Sariel had earlier been publicly identified in April 2024, when The Guardian reported that a book he had published under a pen name left a digital trail to his identity (see AI targeting in Gaza).[22]

Lebanon pager attacks, 2024

On 17–18 September 2024 thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon. Israel did not claim responsibility at the time. Reuters, citing a single Western security source, reported that Unit 8200 was involved in the planning, including testing how explosive material could be inserted into the devices during manufacture; the operation has otherwise been widely attributed to the Mossad.[23] The division of roles between the agencies has not been officially confirmed.

Organisation and recruitment

The ETH Zurich study describes Unit 8200 as falling under the jurisdiction of Aman, and reports that it has changed commanders roughly every four years on average.[10] The names of serving commanders are normally withheld; recent commanders have been referred to publicly by an initial.[24]

Recruitment: Magshimim

The unit recruits heavily among technically able high-school students. Magshimim, a three-year after-school cyber programme run with the Rashi Foundation for 10th–12th grade students in Israel's geographic periphery, aims to prepare them for elite IDF technology units and the high-tech sector.[25]

Unit Hatzav

Unit Hatzav is the open source intelligence unit within Unit 8200. It is responsible for obtaining intelligence and counterintelligence from television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet.[26] Hatzav produced a daily summary of the Arab press which is distributed to intelligence desks and decision makers.[27]

The unit was re-organised in 2007, according to Haaretz:

In 2007 Hatzav was split up, with some members assigned to each Unit 8200 division that deals with a specific country or with the Palestinian Authority. It was meant to increase cooperation between the departments monitoring different sources of information, but has instead reduced Israel's intelligence capabilities, according to the sources. They said that over the past two years, the commanders of Hatzav and of Unit 8200 have been attempting to improve Hatzav, with limited success.[28]

With the onset of the Arab Spring in 2011, a decision was taken to increase military intelligence coverage of Arabic language social media. According to Israeli government sources quoted by Haaretz, this forced a reduction in resources devoted to mainstream media such as television broadcasts. As a result, the government increasingly relied on two right-wing private organisations, MEMRI and Palestinian Media Watch for coverage of anti-Israeli material in the Arab media. Government officials had reportedly complained about the situation to the head of military intelligence, Aviv Kochavi. In a response to Haaretz, the IDF insisted it was monitoring Arab media "24 hours a day, every day of the week, in a wide variety of fields, including the Palestinian field".[28]

Foreign partnerships

US intelligence-sharing deal

The Israeli Sigint National Unit agreed a deal for the mutual exchange of raw signals intelligence with the US National Security Agency in 2009, according to documents released by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.[29] According to the Guardian, the memorandum of understanding allowed the NSA to pass on raw intercepts that could include the communications of US citizens.[29] Further Snowden documents published in August 2014 described a "far-reaching technical and analytic relationship" between the NSA and the ISNU.[5]

The NSA also passed telephone-traffic intelligence on Syria and North Korea to Unit 8200 before the 2007 strike on al-Kibar.[11]

Surveillance of Palestinians

2014 reservists' letter

In September 2014, 43 veterans of Unit 8200, including reservists, published a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military chiefs refusing to serve in operations against Palestinians, saying that innocent people living under military rule were exposed to surveillance and that intelligence was used for political persecution.[30][31]

Microsoft Azure

In August 2025 a joint investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call reported that Unit 8200 had used a customised area of Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to store audio files of millions of phone calls made by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The system became operational in 2022. Based on leaked Microsoft documents and 11 sources, the reporting said the trove had been used to plan air strikes in Gaza and as a basis for arrests in the West Bank. Microsoft said it was unaware its products had been used for surveillance of civilians.[32][6]

Microsoft opened a review on 15 August 2025. On 25 September 2025 its president, Brad Smith, announced that it had found evidence supporting elements of the reporting, including Azure storage consumption in the Netherlands and use of AI services, and had "ceased and disabled" specified subscriptions and services of a unit within the Israel Ministry of Defense.[33] The Guardian reported that Microsoft had told Israeli officials that Unit 8200 had violated its terms of service.[34] Microsoft's wider relationship with the Israeli military continued.[35]

The Guardian reported on 12 May 2026 that the head of Microsoft's Israeli subsidiary, Alon Haimovich, would leave the company after the inquiry. The newspaper said the inquiry, which involved lawyers at Covington & Burling, had recently concluded, and that documents it had seen suggested Haimovich had played a role in developing the relationship between Microsoft Israel and Unit 8200 after a 2021 meeting between Microsoft's chief executive, Satya Nadella, and the unit's then commander. Microsoft had previously said that senior executives, including Nadella, were unaware that Unit 8200 was using Azure to store intercepted Palestinian communications. Haimovich did not respond to a request for comment; in a staff email he said he had positioned Israel as “one of Microsoft’s fastest-growing markets worldwide”. Globes reported that the departure followed a controversy at the subsidiary relating to Microsoft's code of ethics, and that several other managers had also left.[36]

On 4 June 2026 Microsoft published a “final update” on the external investigation. The company said Covington’s factual findings “remain the same” as those announced on 25 September 2025, including evidence relating to Azure storage consumption in the Netherlands and use of AI services, and that it had informed the Israel Ministry of Defense of its decision to cease and disable specified subscriptions and services. The five-page summary set out follow-up steps, including tighter pre-contract review of national security-related engagements, a review of how Microsoft oversees security clearances “in certain countries”, periodic reviews of acceptable-use compliance when political circumstances or sensitive projects change, and stronger human-rights due diligence in “conflict-affected and high-risk areas”. The Microsoft document does not mention the staff departures.[37][38]


Project Nimbus

Project Nimbus is the Israeli government's 2021 public-cloud contract with Google and Amazon Web Services, in which the Israeli Ministry of Defence and the Israel Defense Forces were official partners.[39][40] Dror Kashti, who became IDF chief information security officer after a career in Unit 8200, has written that implementing security for the project was one of his final tasks in uniform.[41] In 2021 the unit's then commander, later identified as Yossi Sariel, asked in a book how "security establishments" could use "the ‘Amazon cloud’" securely, and a deputy commander of the unit called in an intelligence journal for "new partnerships" with public cloud providers. Those remarks, reported by +972 Magazine and Local Call, concerned public-cloud use by the intelligence services generally rather than naming Nimbus as an 8200 project.[42]

AI targeting in Gaza

In November 2023 +972 Magazine and Local Call reported that the Israeli army was making extensive use of an AI system called Habsora ("The Gospel") that could "generate" targets almost automatically; a former intelligence officer said it facilitated a "mass assassination factory".[43]

In April 2024 a further investigation revealed Lavender, an AI-based programme that, according to six intelligence officers, played a central role in the bombing of Gaza; four said that at one stage early in the war it listed as many as 37,000 Palestinian men as linked to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The same reporting described a tracking system called "Where's Daddy?" used to signal when targeted individuals entered their family homes.[44][45] The IDF described Lavender as a database used to cross-reference intelligence sources.[44]

The Human-Machine Team

In 2021 a book titled The Human-Machine Team: How to Create Synergy Between Human and Artificial Intelligence That Will Revolutionize Our World was published under the pen name "Brigadier General Y.S.". It argued for a machine able to rapidly generate thousands of potential military targets, resolving what the author called a "human bottleneck". +972 reported that five sources in 8200 confirmed the author was the unit's commander,[44] and the Guardian identified him as Yossi Sariel.[22][46]

Commanders

Serving commanders are normally not named. The list below is compiled from published sources. Where sources conflict, or where a date could not be confirmed from a published source, this is noted.

Commanders of Unit 8200 (and predecessor Unit 848)
Unit Commander Dates of service Notes
Unit 848 Col. Yoel Ben-Porat 1972–1976 Commanded during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[7] The Israeli Ministry of Defence's Yom Kippur War memorial site says he became deputy commander of Unit 848 at the end of 1971 and headed it from 1972 to 1976.[47]
Unit 8200 Reuven Yerdor (Yeredor) c.1980–1984 In post c.1982.[48] The 1980–1984 dates have not been confirmed from a published source.
Unit 8200 Elie Barr 1987–1990 [49]
Unit 8200 Aharon Zeevi Farkash 1990–1993 Later head of Aman.[50] Founded the security company FST21 in 2007.[13]
Unit 8200 Brig. Gen. Hanan Gefen (Geffen) 1993–1997 A 2024 interview published by the Habithonistim (Israel's Defense and Security Forum) says he commanded the unit from 1993 to 1997.[51] Described as a former commander in Forbes, 2007.[52]
Unit 8200 Brig. Gen. Pinhas Buchris 1997–2001 Globes reported that he was appointed commander in 1997 and finished in July 2001.[53] Later Director-General of the Defence Ministry.[54]
Unit 8200 Brig. Gen. Yair Cohen 2001–2005 Served 33 years in the unit, the last five as commander.[10] Later headed the intelligence and cyber division of Elbit Systems.[13]
Unit 8200 Brig. Gen. Dani Harari 2004/2005–2009 Previously deputy commander; succeeded in 2009 by his own deputy, Nadav Zafrir.[55] Start date uncertain: Maariv, quoting Ben Caspit, gives 2004–2009,[56] while Ctech describes him in 2005 as deputy commander and "next in line to lead the unit", and the ETH Zurich study has Cohen in command until 2005.[55][10]
Unit 8200 Nadav Zafrir 2009–2013 Later co-founder of Team8 and, from December 2024, CEO of Check Point.[57][58] Globes gives 2005–2008, apparently conflating his period as deputy.[59]
Unit 8200 Brig. Gen. Ehud Schneorson 2013–2017 Ctech reported that he retired from command of the unit in April 2017.[60] Arutz Sheva reported on 6 April 2017 that his successor replaced a commander identified as "Brig. Gen. S", who had served "during the last four years".[61] Later a co-founder of the spyware company Paragon Solutions.[62]
Unit 8200 Brig. Gen. Asaf Kochan (Assaf Kochan) 2017–2021 Took command on 6 April 2017, when he was identified publicly only as "Brig. Gen. K".[61] Described in March 2022 as having headed the unit "until last year".[63]
Unit 8200 Brig. Gen. Yossi Sariel February 2021 – March 2025 Announced resignation in September 2024 over the 7 October failures;[19] remained until his successor took command on 11 March 2025.[20]
Unit 8200 Brig. Gen. "A" (name withheld) March 2025 – present Assumed command on 11 March 2025 in a ceremony at the unit's southern base.[21][24]

Tech sector alumni

A Forbes article by former Unit 8200 member Gil Kerbs stated that "Israel's high-tech world is "flooded" with Unit alumni, as entrepreneurs and company founders or junior and senior executives.":

"Take Nice, Comverse and Check Point for example, three of the largest high-tech companies, which were all directly influenced by 8200 technology," says [former Unit 8200 commander Hanan] Gefen. "Check Point was founded by Unit alumni. Comverse's main product, the Logger, is based on the Unit's technology. Look at Metacafe, one of the hottest companies today. Eyal Herzog, one of the founders, is also an 8200 alumnus and he accumulated a huge amount of relevant experience in the Unit."[52]

More than 1,000 companies are estimated to have been founded by Unit 8200 veterans; at least five publicly traded U.S. tech firms started by alumni are collectively valued at around $160 billion.[64][65] A former commander, Yair Cohen, told UPI in 2012 that "It's almost impossible to find a technology company in Israel without people from 8200".[13] The 8200 Alumni Association runs a start-up accelerator, and the company-building group Team8 was founded by former senior officers of the unit. Firms founded or led by veterans of the unit and of other Israeli military and intelligence bodies are listed at Cyber and tech firms founded by ex Unit 8200 or occupation forces veterans.

Hundreds of alumni are employed by global tech giants. A 2022 MintPress News investigation based on public LinkedIn profiles identified at least 166 former members at Microsoft and 99 at Google;[66] Drop Site News reported in 2025 that Microsoft alone employed roughly 250 veterans.[67]

Author James Bamford and former CIA officer Philip Giraldi have suggested that the role of Unit 8200 veterans in the telecommunications industry is a threat to US national security.[68]

A US diplomatic cable dated 13 March 2008, released by WikiLeaks in 2011, highlighted the role of former Unit 8200 personnel in Hazard Threat Analysis, Ltd. (HTA), a private company specialising in internet-based counter-terrorism (CT) intelligence gathering. The cable said that HTA's researchers were "often recently discharged members" of the unit, employed "to develop online identities (avatars) in discussion groups used by potential terrorists".[69]

Selected founders and senior executives

Only founders and senior executives publicly identified as Unit 8200 alumni in published sources (press, company biographies, official pages or filings) are listed here. Where a source says only "military intelligence" or names another unit, this is noted.

Selected Unit 8200 alumni in technology companies
Name Company Role Notes
Gil Shwed Check Point Software Technologies Co-founder; CEO until December 2024, then executive chairman Globes wrote that Check Point was founded in 1993 by Shwed, Shlomo Kramer and Marius Nacht, "all of whom had served in the 8200 unit".[59]
Shlomo Kramer Check Point Software Technologies, Imperva, Cato Networks Co-founder (multiple) Check Point co-founder.[59]
Marius Nacht Check Point Software Technologies Co-founder Check Point co-founder.[59]
Nadav Zafrir Team8, Check Point Software Technologies Co-founder of Team8; CEO of Check Point from December 2024 Former commander of the unit.[59][58]
Israel Grimberg Team8 Co-founder Team8's biography says he served 23 years in the unit and headed its cyber division.[70]
Liran Grinberg Team8 Co-founder Described by Globes as a former officer in the unit.[71]
Nir Zuk Palo Alto Networks Founder; CTO until 2025 Ynet reported that he joined Check Point in 1994 "after serving in Israel's Unit 8200 military intelligence division".[72][67] In a 2010 interview he described being recruited by "a special unit that was looking for whiz kids that knew how to program", without naming it.[73]
Udi Mokady CyberArk Co-founder; former CEO and chairman Mokady told Ctech that he "joined Unit 8200, before it was considered a glamorous unit".[74][67] His co-founder Alon Cohen served in Mamram, the IDF's central computing unit, not in Unit 8200.[75]
Assaf Rappaport, Ami Luttwak, Yinon Costica, Roy Reznik Wiz Co-founders Ctech reported that the four "served in the Intelligence Corps, in Units 8200 and 81".[76] Ynet described Rappaport as "technically a Unit 81 military technology alum".[77] Google agreed to buy Wiz for $32 billion in March 2025 and completed the acquisition on 11 March 2026; Wiz now operates within Google Cloud under its own brand.[78][79]
Avishai Abrahami Wix Co-founder and CEO Forbes reported that he was assigned to Unit 8200 and told to break into the computers of a hostile country.[80] Wix's board biography gives his service as the "Israeli Defense Forces' elite computer intelligence unit (1990 – 1992)".[81]
Yotam Segev, Tamar Bar-Ilan Cyera Co-founders (CEO and CTO) Ctech reported that the two "served together in the IDF’s Unit 8200 where they founded, built, and ran the cloud security division".[82]
Eyal Herzog Metacafe Co-founder [52]
Guy Rosen Onavo; Meta Platforms Co-founder of Onavo; Meta chief information security officer, 2022–2026 Ynet reported that Rosen and his Onavo co-founder Roi Tiger met during their military service in the unit. Facebook bought Onavo in 2013, and Rosen left Meta in 2026.[83][84]
Michael Bargury, Ben Kliger Zenity Co-founders Ctech reported that the two served in Unit 8200 and worked on Microsoft's Azure and cloud security teams before founding Zenity.[85]
Guy Podjarny Snyk; Tessl; Blaze Co-founder of Snyk, CEO 2015–2019 and chairman from March 2026; founder and CEO of Tessl; co-founder of Blaze Globes described Snyk's founders as "all graduates of the Israel Defense Forces 8200 intelligence unit".[86] Podjarny said: "I guess people know about the 8200 unit... I spent the next kind of four-and-a-half years in the army."[87] Verdict reported that he ended "his stint with 8200 in 2001".[88]
Assaf Hefetz Snyk Co-founder Named among the founders Globes described as "all graduates of the Israel Defense Forces 8200 intelligence unit".[86]
Danny Grander Snyk; Gita Technologies Co-founder of Snyk; former CTO of Gita Technologies Named among the founders Globes described as "all graduates of the Israel Defense Forces 8200 intelligence unit".[86] Podjarny said he had "served with" Grander "in the army".[87]
Gili Raanan Sanctum; Cyberstarts Co-founder of Sanctum (1997); founder of the venture fund Cyberstarts Ctech described Raanan as "an alumnus of the elite Israeli military intelligence unit 8200".[89]
Eli Cohen Helios; Snyk Co-founder and CEO of Helios (bought by Snyk, 2024); later at Snyk Labs Snyk describes Cohen as "an alumnus of the elite Israeli intelligence unit 8200".[90]
Itai Lahan, Nadav Soferman, Tal Lev-Ami Cloudinary Co-founders Globes reported that the three "first met when serving in the IDF 8200 intelligence unit".[91]
Avi Shua Orca Security Co-founder Orca says he "held key positions within Unit 8200".[92]
Arick Goomanovsky, Shai Morag Ermetic Co-founders Globes reported that both served in the Talpiot programme and in Unit 8200.[93]
Arie Zilberstein, Ofir Brukner, Ron Konigsberg Gem Security Co-founders Globes reported that the three founders "are graduates of the IDF 8200 intelligence unit".[94]
Matan Getz, Adir Gruss Aim Security Co-founders (CEO and CTO) Aim's funding release said the two "pioneered the use and adoption of AI and big data tools in the IDF's elite intelligence Unit 8200".[95]
Itamar Golan, Lior Drihem Prompt Security Co-founders Ctech described both as "graduates of Israel's elite 8200 Unit".[96]
Yuval Ofir Dazz Co-founder Ctech reported that he "was a technology leader in Unit 8200".[97]
Matan Derman, Tomer Avni Apex Security Co-founders Ctech reported that they "met during their Unit 8200 service where they served as Lieutenant Colonel and Captain, respectively".[98]
Ron Nissim, Avi Zetser Entitle Co-founders (CEO and CTO) Globes described the two as "veterans of the IDF 8200 intelligence unit".[99]
Amit Shaked, Oran Avraham Laminar Co-founders (CEO and CTO) TechCrunch described both as "veterans of Unit 8200".[100]
Uri May Hunters Co-founder and CEO His author profile at Snowflake says he "began his career in cybersecurity in the prestigious Unit 8200".[101]
Yohai Bar Zakay Rayzone Group Co-founder Globes described him as a former deputy commander of the unit.[102]
Ehud Schneorson, Idan Nurick Paragon Solutions Co-founders Globes reported that Paragon was founded by Ehud Barak "and senior veterans of the IDF 8200 intelligence unit", including Schneorson, a former commander, and his deputy Nurick.[62]

The 8200 Alumni Association and the alumni lists of its accelerator are not used as sources for individuals in this table, because they list companies rather than the military service of named people.

Alumni at Microsoft, Google and Meta

The following lists are based on the individuals' own public career declarations, as compiled by MintPress News (Alan MacLeod, 2022);[66] they have not been independently confirmed from other published sources.

Other Unit 8200 alumni and big-tech summary rows (from the earlier version of this page)
Name Company Role Company type Notes
Talmon Marco Viber Founder Messaging app Acquired by Rakuten. Interesting Engineering says Viber has its origins in Unit 8200; The Guardian says Marco spent four years in the IDF, "rising to chief information officer of the central command", and does not name 8200, so his own service in the unit is contested.[103][104]
(Multiple unnamed) Google Various roles Global tech giant At least 99 alumni identified via public profiles.[66]
Tom Chet, Gilad Turbahn, others Meta Platforms (Facebook) Activations, engineering & management roles Global tech giant Multiple named alumni in key positions.[66]

Unit 8200 alumni employed at Microsoft

Unit 8200 alumni at Microsoft
Name Role at Microsoft Notes
Ayelet Steinitz Former Head of Global Strategic Alliances Senior leadership role.[66]
Tomer Lev Senior Software Engineer Technical development.[66]
Maayan Mazig Senior Product Manager Product strategy.[66]
Or Serok-Jeppa Senior Product Manager Product management.[66]
Yuval Derman Senior Product Manager Product management.[66]
Lia Yeshoua Security Researcher Security research.[66]
Yogev Shitrit Security Researcher Security research.[66]
Guni Merom Security Researcher Security research (joined Microsoft directly from Unit 8200).[66]
Meitar Pinto Security Researcher Security research (joined Microsoft directly from Unit 8200).[66]
Yaniv Carmel Security Researcher Security research (joined Microsoft directly from Unit 8200).[66]
Gilron Tsabkevich Threat Protection Software Engineer Threat protection engineering.[66]
Danielle Poleg Data Scientist Data science and analytics.[66]
Itai Grady Threat Intelligence Officer Threat intelligence.[66]
Liat Lisha Security Product Manager Security product management.[66]
Shlomi Haba Principal Software Engineering Manager Principal engineering leadership.[66]
Yaniv Yehuda Senior Software Engineering Manager Engineering management.[66]
Assaf Israel Senior Software Engineering Manager Engineering management.[66]
Michal Ben Yaacov Senior Software Engineering Manager Engineering management.[66]
Tal Rosler Senior Product Manager Product management.[66]
Adi Griever Software Engineer Software engineering.[66]
Yael Genut Product Manager Product management.[66]

Unit 8200 alumni employed at Google

Unit 8200 alumni at Google
Name Role at Google Notes
Gavriel Goidel Head of Strategy and Operations Senior leadership role.[66]
Jonathan Cohen Head of Insights, Data and Measurement Senior leadership role.[66]
Ori Daniel Head of Global Self-Service for Google Waze Senior leadership role.[66]
Ben Bariach Product Partnership Manager Product partnerships.[66]
Gai Gutherz Software Engineer Technical development.[66]
Lior Liberman Software Engineer Technical development.[66]

Unit 8200 alumni at Meta/Facebook

Unit 8200 alumni at Meta Platforms (Facebook)
Name Role at Meta Notes
Eyal Klein Head of Data Science, Messenger Data science leadership.[66]
Eli Zeitlin Engineering Manager Engineering management.[66]
Tom Chet Product Manager, Activations Product management.[66]
Gilad Turbahn Engineering Manager Engineering management.[66]
Ranen Goren Software Engineer Technical development.[66]
Gil Osher Software Engineer Technical development.[66]
Yoav Goldstein Product Manager Product management.[66]
Dana Baril Security Researcher Security research.[66]
Omer Goldberg Software Engineer Technical development.[66]

Alumni in the spyware and private intelligence trade

Rest of World reported in 2021 that Israeli cyber-surveillance firms such as NSO Group, Circles, Candiru and Cellebrite "are marketed globally on the prestige of their former Israeli intelligence founders and employees". Citing the New York Times, it said the UAE firm DarkMatter had poached 8200 graduates from NSO Group.[105] Paragon Solutions, maker of the Graphite spyware, was co-founded by former commander Ehud Schneorson.[62]

Some firms often grouped with the unit have a different or weaker connection:

  • Intellexa's founder Tal Dilian is a former commander of the Intelligence Corps' Unit 81, according to Haaretz. Unit 81 is the technology unit of military intelligence and is separate from Unit 8200.[106]
  • Black Cube was founded in 2011 by Dan Zorella and Avi Yanus. Globes reported that Zorella "served in an elite unit in the IDF Military Intelligence" (Aman), without naming the unit. No source reviewed places either founder in Unit 8200.[107]
  • For BlackCore, Haaretz and Libération reported that minority shareholders in two associated companies include people with intelligence backgrounds, one of them a Unit 8200 veteran according to his own online profile. No source identifies a Unit 8200 veteran as a founder or executive of BlackCore itself.[108]

Controversies

  • Surveillance of Palestinians: criticised by its own reservists in 2014 and, in 2025, by reporting on its storage of intercepted calls on Microsoft Azure, which led Microsoft to cut off some services. See above.
  • AI targeting: the unit's commander advocated automated target generation, and systems such as Lavender and the Gospel have been linked to mass civilian casualties in Gaza. See above.
  • 7 October 2023: intelligence failures leading to the resignation of commander Yossi Sariel.
  • Sharing of US citizens' data: the 2009 NSA–ISNU agreement allowed raw intercepts, potentially including Americans' communications, to be passed to Israel.[29]
  • Revolving door to the tech industry: concerns about alumni in telecommunications and big tech, and about veterans moving into the spyware trade. See above.

Target selection and the 2003 refusal

Ronen Bergman describes the role of Unit 8200's network intelligence officers in selecting which intercepted communications were translated, circulated and followed up as potential assassination targets. In his account, these officers did not simply collect material: their decisions shaped the recommendations subsequently approved by politicians. He illustrates the distinction through an officer identified by the pseudonym “Amir”, stationed at the Turban base.[109]

Bergman reports that after the suicide bombings in Tel Aviv on 5 January 2003, Aman sought intelligence for an attack on a Fatah office in Khan Yunis in the occupied Gaza Strip, designated Target 7068. According to Bergman's account of the unit's reports and his interview with Amir, the building carried out civilian administrative work and the order required the unit to report when anyone entered, irrespective of their identity. Amir refused to pass on the indication that would trigger the strike, judging the order manifestly illegal. His superior relieved him, but the delay prevented the strike within its operational window; the defence minister subsequently cancelled it after Unit 8200 sent reservations up the chain of command.[109]

Bergman also records the objections to Amir's refusal: Elazar Stern argued that someone assisting an operation rather than firing the weapon could not refuse on that ground, while Asa Kasher considered that the officer lacked the wider operational picture. Amir was discharged without indictment. The account therefore describes a dispute within the military, not a judicial ruling on the legality of the proposed strike.[109]

A reservist's retrospective account

Antony Loewenstein interviewed a veteran identified only as Daniel, one of the signatories to the 2014 refusal letter discussed above. Daniel described entering the unit with confidence that he was defending Israel and reconsidering his service after leaving, particularly following the 2011 social protests. He told Loewenstein that the letter expressed opposition to military rule over Palestinians, rather than revealing previously secret information: its disclosures had been vetted by the military. Loewenstein uses the interview to contrast veterans' ethical objections with the technology industry's account of the unit as a source of innovation.[110]

See also

External Resources

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Amos Harel, Mystery surrounds suicide of officer from elite intel unit, Haaretz, 4 June 2009.
  2. ↑ Stacy Perman, Spies Inc. Business Innovation from Israel's Masters of Espionage, Pearson Education, 2005, p.12.
  3. ↑ Israel Hayom, Report: NSA routinely shares raw intelligence with Israel, 12 September 2013. (The original URL, israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=11927, no longer works.)
  4. ↑ Ynet, Doc: NSA shares Americans' data with Israel, Ynetnews, 11 September 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 NSA Has 'Far-Reaching' Partnership With Israeli Intelligence Agency, HuffPost, 4 August 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Yuval Abraham, Microsoft storing Israeli intelligence trove used to attack Palestinians, +972 Magazine, 6 August 2025.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Ephraim Kahana, Historical Dictionary of Israeli Intelligence, Scarecrow Press, 2006, p.43.
  8. ↑ Dima P. Adamsky, American and Israeli Intelligence Failure, in Nigel John Ashton, ed., The Cold War in the Middle East: Regional Conflict and the Superpowers, 1967-73, Routledge, 2007, p.124.
  9. ↑ Dima P. Adamsky, American and Israeli Intelligence Failure, in Nigel John Ashton, ed., The Cold War in the Middle East: Regional Conflict and the Superpowers, 1967-73, Routledge, 2007, p.130.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zürich, Trend Analysis: The Israeli Unit 8200 – An OSINT-based study, CSS Cyber Defense Project, December 2019.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Erich Follath and Holger Stark, The Story of 'Operation Orchard': How Israel Destroyed Syria's Al Kibar Nuclear Reactor, Der Spiegel, 2 November 2009.
  12. ↑ Reuters, Israel admits bombing suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, warns Iran, Reuters, March 2018.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Unit 8200 and Israel's high-tech whiz kids, UPI, 4 June 2012.
  14. ↑ Duqu 2.0: computer virus 'linked to Israel' found at Iran nuclear talks venue, The Guardian, 11 June 2015.
  15. ↑ FOCUS-online-Redaktion, Bundeskanzlerin im FOCUS-Interview: Giftgasmassaker in Syrien: Merkel fordert Zugang für UN-Inspekteure, Focus, 24 August 2013 (German).
  16. ↑ Adiv Sterman, ‘IDF intercepted Syrian regime chatter on chemical attack’, The Times of Israel, 26 August 2013.
  17. ↑ Harriet Sherwood, Israeli intelligence 'intercepted Syrian regime talk about chemical attack', The Guardian, 28 August 2013.
  18. ↑ The Jerusalem Post, IDF intelligence Unit 8200 commander informs Halevi of resignation The Jerusalem Post, 12 September 2024.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 The Times of Israel, ‘I did not fulfill my mission’: Commander of IDF’s 8200 intelligence unit resigns The Times of Israel, 12 September 2024.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 The Jerusalem Post, 'I wish to part with forgiveness': Outgoing commander says he failed The Jerusalem Post, 11 March 2025.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 N12, אחרי מחדל 7 באוקטובר: מפקד חדש מונה ליחידה 8200 (After the 7 October failure: a new commander appointed to Unit 8200), N12/Mako, 11 March 2025 (Hebrew).
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Top Israeli spy chief exposes his true identity in online security lapse, The Guardian, 5 April 2024.
  23. ↑ Reuters, Hezbollah pager attack puts spotlight on Israel's cyber warfare Unit 8200, Reuters, 18 September 2024.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Ynet News, Brig. Gen. A. appointed as new commander of Unit 8200 Ynet News, 11 March 2025.
  25. ↑ Rashi Foundation, Magshimim, Rashi Foundation, accessed 16 October 2026.
  26. ↑ Cnaan Liphshiz, Native English speakers have lost exclusive status with IDF Intelligence, Haaretz, 23 January 2009.
  27. ↑ Ron Schleifer, Psychological Warfare in the Intifada: Israeli And Palestinian Media Politics And Military Strategies, Sussex Academic Press, 2005, p.5.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Barak Ravid, Officials: Israel outsources monitoring of Palestinian media after IDF lapse, Haaretz, 31 January 2012.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewen MacAskill, NSA shares raw intelligence including Americans' data with Israel, Guardian, 11 September 2013.
  30. ↑ Peter Beaumont, Israeli intelligence veterans refuse to serve in Palestinian territories, The Guardian, 12 September 2014.
  31. ↑ Israeli intelligence veterans' letter to Netanyahu and military chiefs – in full, The Guardian, 12 September 2014.
  32. ↑ ‘A million calls an hour’: Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians, The Guardian, 6 August 2025.
  33. ↑ Brad Smith, Update on ongoing Microsoft review, Microsoft On the Issues, 25 September 2025.
  34. ↑ Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians, The Guardian, 25 September 2025.
  35. ↑ Microsoft terminates services for Israeli military after investigation into mass surveillance of Palestinians, CNN, 25 September 2025.
  36. ↑ Harry Davies, Head of Microsoft’s Israel branch to step down after inquiry into dealings with Israeli military, The Guardian, 12 May 2026, accessed 11 November 2026.
  37. ↑ Microsoft, Summary of 2025 External Investigation and Follow Up, Microsoft, 4 June 2026, accessed 11 November 2026.
  38. ↑ Harry Davies and Yuval Abraham, Microsoft to tighten human rights measures after inquiry into Israel’s use of its tech, The Guardian, 4 June 2026, accessed 11 November 2026.
  39. ↑ Meir Orbach and Reuters, Amazon's AWS and Google big winners of Israel's $1.2 billion milestone cloud project Ctech, 21 April 2021, accessed 11 November 2026.
  40. ↑ Government Procurement Administration, Nimbus Tender Ministry of Finance / MR.gov.il, accessed 11 November 2026.
  41. ↑ Dror Kashti, How Transitioning from Military CISO to Startup CEO Made me a Better Leader Sweet Security, 1 February 2024, accessed 11 November 2026.
  42. ↑ Yuval Abraham, ‘Order from Amazon’: How tech giants are storing mass data for Israel’s war +972 Magazine, 4 August 2024, accessed 11 November 2026.
  43. ↑ Yuval Abraham, ‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza, +972 Magazine, 30 November 2023.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 Yuval Abraham, ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza, +972 Magazine, 3 April 2024.
  45. ↑ ‘The machine did it coldly’: Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets, The Guardian, 3 April 2024.
  46. ↑ Digital trail identifying Israeli spy chief has been online for years, The Guardian, 9 April 2024.
  47. ↑ Israeli Ministry of Defence, יואל בן פורת (Yoel Ben-Porat), 50 Years Since the Yom Kippur War, accessed 20 October 2026 (Hebrew).
  48. ↑ Seymour M. Hersh, The Samson Option: Israel, America and the Bomb, Faber and Faber, 1993, p.293.
  49. ↑ Stacy Perman, Spies Inc. Business Innovation from Israel's Masters of Espionage, Pearson Education, 2005, p.76.
  50. ↑ Stacy Perman, Spies Inc. Business Innovation from Israel's Masters of Espionage, Pearson Education, 2005, p.97.
  51. ↑ Habithonistim (Israel's Defense and Security Forum), מפקד 8200 לשעבר: ״הידיעות על 7 באוקטובר הגיעו בטפטוף" (Former 8200 commander: "The information about 7 October arrived in a trickle"), Habithonistim, 19 November 2024 (Hebrew).
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 52.2 Gil Kerbs, The Unit, Forbes, 8 February 2007.
  53. ↑ Dan Yachin, מ"סיירת מטכ'ל" של ההיי-טק הצה"לי - לסיכון שבקרנות האזרחיות (From the "Sayeret Matkal" of IDF high-tech to the risk of civilian funds), Globes, 23 January 2003 (Hebrew).
  54. ↑ Israeli Ministry of Defence, פנחס בוכריס (Pinhas Buchris), list of Ministry of Defence directors-general, accessed 20 October 2026 (Hebrew).
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 Check Point's X-Factor: Can Nadav Zafrir wake the sleeping giant?, Ctech (Calcalist), 17 April 2025.
  56. ↑ Maariv, מפקד 8200 מסיים את תפקידו: זה הדו"ח הגנוז שפרסם לראשונה בן כספית (8200 commander ends his term: the shelved report first published by Ben Caspit), Maariv, 12 September 2024 (Hebrew).
  57. ↑ Nadav Zafrir to replace Gil Shwed as CEO of Check Point, Ctech (Calcalist), 24 July 2024.
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 Gordon Corera, How Israel builds its hi-tech start-ups, BBC News, 14 October 2016.
  59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 59.2 59.3 59.4 Assaf Gilead, Check Point names Nadav Zafrir next CEO, Globes, 24 July 2024.
  60. ↑ Human Threat Hunters Are the Next Big Thing in Cybersecurity, Says Former Unit 8200 Head, Ctech (Calcalist).
  61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 Kobi Finkler, מפקד חדש ליחידה 8200 (New commander for Unit 8200), Arutz Sheva, 6 April 2017 (Hebrew).
  62. ↑ 62.0 62.1 62.2 Assaf Gilead, Cyberattack co Paragon agrees SPAC merger at $1.25b valuation, Globes, 28 September 2026.
  63. ↑ Meir Orbach, Outgoing 8200 commander: "Organizations don't know where their information is", Ctech (Calcalist), 24 March 2022.
  64. ↑ Wall Street Journal, Silicon Valley’s Hot Talent Pipeline Is an Israeli Army Unit Wall Street Journal, 31 August 2024.
  65. ↑ Richard Behar, Inside Israel’s Secret Startup Machine Forbes, 11 May 2016.
  66. ↑ 66.00 66.01 66.02 66.03 66.04 66.05 66.06 66.07 66.08 66.09 66.10 66.11 66.12 66.13 66.14 66.15 66.16 66.17 66.18 66.19 66.20 66.21 66.22 66.23 66.24 66.25 66.26 66.27 66.28 66.29 66.30 66.31 66.32 66.33 66.34 66.35 66.36 66.37 66.38 66.39 Alan MacLeod, Revealed: The Former Israeli Spies Working in Top Jobs at Google, Facebook and Microsoft MintPress News, 31 October 2022.
  67. ↑ 67.0 67.1 67.2 Murtaza Hussain, Hundreds of Former Israeli Spies Are Working in Big Tech Drop Site News, 13 August 2025.
  68. ↑ Christopher Ketcham, Full-Spectrum Penetration: Israeli Spying in the United States, CounterPunch, 12 March 2009.
  69. ↑ US Embassy Tel Aviv, Private Israeli Company Collects Counter-terrorism Intelligence, cable 08TELAVIV592, 13 March 2008, published by WikiLeaks, 2011.
  70. ↑ Team8, Israel Grimberg Team8, accessed 20 October 2026.
  71. ↑ Yasmin Yablonko, Team8: A unique model, but will it work? Globes, 7 July 2019.
  72. ↑ Ynetnews, Palo Alto Networks founder Nir Zuk steps down after more than 20 years Ynetnews, 19 August 2025.
  73. ↑ How I Got Here: Nir Zuk, CTO, Palo Alto Networks, Computerworld, 5 April 2010.
  74. ↑ Diana Bahur Nir, "There's a price where you have to say yes": CyberArk founder on the $25 billion Palo Alto deal Ctech, 18 June 2026.
  75. ↑ Diana Bahur-Nir, "This is more of a merger than an acquisition," CyberArk founder Alon Cohen explains Ctech, 11 August 2025.
  76. ↑ Yarden Rozanski, From IDF Intelligence to a $32B Google deal: The Wiz founders’ epic journey, Ctech (Calcalist), 18 March 2025.
  77. ↑ Ynet News, IDF's Unit 8200 is Silicon Valley's new talent pool Ynet News, 2 September 2024.
  78. ↑ Rebecca Bellan, Google wraps up $32B acquisition of cloud cybersecurity startup Wiz, TechCrunch, 11 March 2026.
  79. ↑ Google, Google completes acquisition of Wiz, Google blog, 11 March 2026.
  80. ↑ Richard Behar, Inside Israel's secret startup machine Forbes India (from Forbes), 17 June 2016.
  81. ↑ Wix.com, Board of Directors Wix Investor Relations, accessed 20 October 2026.
  82. ↑ Cyera raises $56 million Series A for cloud data security platform, Ctech (Calcalist), 29 March 2022.
  83. ↑ Sagi Cohen, Meet the Israelis trying to bring the entire world online, Ynetnews, 19 October 2014.
  84. ↑ Meir Orbach, Meta’s top Israeli executive Guy Rosen leaves after 13 years, Ynetnews, 3 June 2026.
  85. ↑ Zenity comes out of stealth with $5 million Seed round to secure Low Code/No Code applications, Ctech (Calcalist), 23 November 2021.
  86. ↑ 86.0 86.1 86.2 Uri Berkovitz, Snyk raises $300m at $4.7b valuation Globes, 10 March 2021.
  87. ↑ 87.0 87.1 Jon Sakoda, Guy Podjarny, founder of Snyk: building conviction on a contrarian bet The Decibel Podcast (transcript), accessed 21 October 2026.
  88. ↑ Eric Johansson, Snyk’s founder on DevSecOps, a $4.7bn valuation and IPO plans Verdict, 9 August 2021, accessed 21 October 2026.
  89. ↑ Sophie Shulman and Meir Orbach, The Gili Ra’anan model: Questions emerging from Cyberstarts' remarkable success Ctech, 13 June 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.
  90. ↑ Snyk Labs, Eli Cohen – Director of Technology Incubation Snyk Labs, accessed 21 October 2026.
  91. ↑ Tali Tsipori, Cloudinary competes successfully with PhotoShop Globes, 30 August 2017.
  92. ↑ Orca Security, About Orca Security Orca Security, accessed 20 October 2026.
  93. ↑ Ofir Dor, #2 Ermetic: Securing cloud activity, Globes, 14 December 2022.
  94. ↑ Meytal Vaizberg, Wiz to acquire Israeli startup Gem Security for $350m, Globes, 13 March 2024.
  95. ↑ Business Wire, Aim Security Raises $10M to Secure Generative AI Enterprise Adoption Business Wire, 31 January 2024.
  96. ↑ Sophie Shulman, SentinelOne buys two-year-old GenAI cyber startup Prompt for $250M, Ctech, 4 August 2025.
  97. ↑ Meir Orbach, Wiz acquires Dazz for $450 million to strengthen AI-driven cloud security, Ctech, 21 November 2024.
  98. ↑ Ctech, Tenable acquires Sam Altman-backed Apex for over $105 million to boost AI security, Calcalist, 29 May 2025.
  99. ↑ BeyondTrust buys Israeli access security co Entitle for $150m, Globes, 16 April 2024.
  100. ↑ Ingrid Lunden, Public cloud security startup Laminar emerges from stealth with $37M, TechCrunch, 17 November 2021.
  101. ↑ Snowflake, Uri May, Snowflake (author profile), accessed 20 October 2026.
  102. ↑ Assaf Gilead, Defense Ministry sets sights on ADINT companies, Globes, 16 July 2023.
  103. ↑ Interesting Engineering, Israel’s Unit 8200, a Conveyor Belt of High-Tech Startups Interesting Engineering, 17 August 2020.
  104. ↑ Juliette Garside, Viber founder: 'People should be concerned about privacy', The Guardian, 30 August 2013.
  105. ↑ Amos Barshad, Inside Israel’s lucrative — and secretive — cybersurveillance industry, Rest of World, 9 March 2021.
  106. ↑ A Shady Israeli Intel Genius, His Cyber-spy Van and Million-dollar Deals, Haaretz, 31 December 2020.
  107. ↑ Black Cube - a "Mossad-style" business intelligence co, Globes, 2 April 2017.
  108. ↑ Omer Benjakob, Revealed: An Anti-left Influence Operation in France Leads to Tel Aviv, Haaretz, 18 May 2026.
  109. ↑ 109.0 109.1 109.2 Ronen Bergman, Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations, New York: Random House, 2018, ebook ISBN 9780679604686, chapter 31, “The Rebellion in Unit 8200”, passages beginning “Amir (not his real name) was an NIO”, “ON JANUARY 5, 2003” and “THAT EVENING, THE 8200 command”; concluding discussion of Asa Kasher and Amir’s discharge.
  110. ↑ Antony Loewenstein, The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World, London: Verso, 2023, ebook ISBN 9781839762109, chapter 3, “Preventing an Outbreak of Peace”, interview passages beginning “Daniel is a Unit 8200 veteran”, “When he joined the military” and “It was not until after Daniel left Unit 8200”.
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