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{{short description|'''Defunct Israeli artificial-intelligence company (2014–2018) that sold investigation and intelligence-analysis software to police and security agencies; chaired by former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz'''}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Fifth Dimension
| trade_name = Fifth Dimension Holdings
| logo =
| type = Private company
| founded = {{Start date|2014}}
| founder = [[Guy Caspi]], [[Doron Cohen]]
| defunct = {{Start date|2018|12}}
| hq_location = 37th floor, [[Azrieli Towers]], Tel Aviv (2016, according to ''Der Spiegel'')
| industry = Artificial intelligence; big data
| services = Intelligence gathering and analysis software for police, security and enforcement agencies
}}
'''Fifth Dimension''' (Fifth Dimension Holdings) was an Israeli "big data" and artificial-intelligence company that developed intelligence-gathering and analysis software for police and other enforcement agencies. It was founded in 2014 by [[Guy Caspi]] and [[Doron Cohen]], and in 2015 the former chief of staff of the [[Israel Defense Forces]], Lt. Gen. (res.) [[Benny Gantz]], became its chairman.<ref name="GlobesFifth2015">Roy Goldenberg, [https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-former-idf-chief-to-chair-fifth-dimension-board-1001067253 Former IDF chief to chair big data co Fifth Dimension] ''Globes'', 7 September 2015, accessed 10 November 2026.</ref> ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' reported in 2016 that its management team and about 80 per cent of its staff came from Israel's security forces.<ref name="Spiegel2016">Marcel Rosenbach, [https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/israel-wo-hacker-zu-it-experten-werden-a-1115110.html Israel: Wo Hacker zu IT-Experten werden] (Israel: where hackers become IT experts), ''Der Spiegel'' (German), 6 October 2016, accessed 10 November 2026.</ref> Fifth Dimension closed in December 2018 after a planned sale to the spyware company [[NSO Group]] collapsed.<ref name="GlobesFifth2018">Tal Shahaf, [https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-us-govt-torpedoed-fifth-dimension-sales-to-nso-1001264915 US gov't torpedoed Fifth Dimension sale to NSO] ''Globes'', 16 December 2018, accessed 10 November 2026.</ref> A criminal investigation into how it obtained a grant from the [[Israel Police]] was closed in 2023.<ref name="ToIFifth2023">Jeremy Sharon and ToI Staff, [https://www.timesofisrael.com/officials-close-criminal-probe-of-cybersecurity-firm-formerly-headed-by-gantz/ Officials close criminal probe of cybersecurity firm formerly headed by Gantz] ''The Times of Israel'', 4 April 2023, accessed 10 November 2026.</ref>

== History ==
''[[Globes]]'' reported in September 2015 that Fifth Dimension "was founded in 2014 by CEO Guy Caspi and deputy chairman of the board Doron Cohen", employed "dozens of workers mainly senior mathematicians and big data experts", and had received "dozens of millions of dollars over three rounds of funding by private investors, most recently by US investment giant Columbus Nova" ([[Columbus Nova]]).<ref name="GlobesFifth2015"/> The same report said that Caspi had worked at [[Comverse]] for a decade and was a founder and chief executive of [[Tamares Telecom]], owned by [[Poju Zabludowicz]], and that in 2012 he joined [[BunkerSec]], whose board included the former [[Mossad]] chief [[Meir Dagan]]. ''Globes'' also named Caspi as a founder-partner of [[Deep Instinct]].<ref name="GlobesFifth2015"/>

In 2016 ''Der Spiegel'' described the company's offices on the 37th floor of the [[Azrieli Towers]] in Tel Aviv, overlooking the headquarters of the Israeli army, and said that it marketed "eine Plattform, mit der Behörden Terroristen aufspüren können" (a platform with which authorities can track down terrorists). According to the magazine, a promotional video claimed that the software could recognise suspects' faces and voices, trace Bitcoin transactions and report suspects' border crossings. Caspi told ''Der Spiegel'' that the platform was already in use in several European countries and had been demonstrated to representatives of Germany's foreign intelligence service, the [[Bundesnachrichtendienst]] (BND).<ref name="Spiegel2016"/>

== Military and intelligence links ==
* [[Benny Gantz]]: ''Globes'' reported in 2015 that "Former IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz has been appointed as chairman of Fifth Dimension".<ref name="GlobesFifth2015"/> In 2018 it again described the company's chairperson as "former IDF Chief of Staff".<ref name="GlobesFifth2018"/> ''The Times of Israel'' later described him as "National Unity leader and former defense minister".<ref name="ToIFifth2023"/>
* Staff: ''Der Spiegel'' wrote that "Das Führungsteam und rund 80 Prozent der Mitarbeiter rekrutieren sich aus ehemaligem Personal israelischer Sicherheitskräfte" (the management team and around 80 per cent of the employees are recruited from former personnel of the Israeli security forces), that the chairman had until the previous year been chief of staff of the Israeli army, and that a colleague had been deputy head of the [[Mossad]].<ref name="Spiegel2016"/>
* [[Guy Caspi]]: ''Der Spiegel'' said that Caspi was reticent about his past but said he had served in a "technologischen Eliteeinheit" (technological elite unit), and called him "der ehemalige Geheimdienstler" (the former intelligence man).<ref name="Spiegel2016"/>

== Collapse and the NSO talks ==
In December 2018 ''Globes'' reported that Fifth Dimension had stopped operating and laid off its remaining 32 employees, after investments totalling $40 million. It said that the company "developed intelligence gathering and analysis technologies for civilian enforcement agencies" and had negotiated a sale to [[NSO Group]]. According to ''Globes'''s sources, the talks failed after the US government imposed restrictions on dealings with the Russian businessman [[Viktor Vekselberg]], "one of the main investors in Fifth Dimension", whose money then did not reach the company. ''Globes'' added that US law-enforcement agencies that had considered buying its services dropped the idea, and that [[Francisco Partners]], NSO's controlling shareholder, decided against the deal. It reported that Columbus Nova, which had invested in Fifth Dimension, was said in US reports to be controlled by Vekselberg; a Columbus Nova spokesperson told ''Globes'' that the fund was owned only by Americans.<ref name="GlobesFifth2018"/>

== Police grant investigation ==
According to ''The Times of Israel'', a 2019 report by the [[State Comptroller of Israel|State Comptroller]] "raised suspicions that Gantz's Fifth Dimension cybersecurity company presented the Israel Police with misleading information that helped the latter secure a NIS 4 million ($1.12 million) grant for an artificial intelligence product it was developing in 2015". A criminal investigation was opened during the March 2020 election campaign. In April 2023 State Attorney [[Amit Aisman]] closed the case, saying that the evidence did not establish a causal link between the erroneous information and the grant, and that the information did not amount to misrepresentations sufficient for criminal prosecution. Gantz, who was not a suspect, said the investigation had a "political aroma".<ref name="ToIFifth2023"/>

== See also ==
* [[Deep Instinct]]
* [[Benny Gantz]]
* [[NSO Group]]
* [[Cyber and tech firms founded by ex Unit 8200 or occupation forces veterans]]

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Israel]]
[[Category:Companies]]
[[Category:IDF]]
[[Category:Surveillance]]
[[Category:Police]]
[[Category:Security Industry]]

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 | name          = Fifth Dimension
 | trade_name    = Fifth Dimension Holdings
-| logo          =
+| logo          = Fifth_Dimension_logo.png
 | type          = Private company
 | founded       = {{Start date|2014}}

Fifth Dimension - Revision history

Unit 8200 Bot: Unit 8200 research: update

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