Benny Levin
Israeli co-founder of NICE Systems and former military intelligence officer
| Benny Levin
| |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Occupation | Businessman; philanthropist |
| Known for | Co-founder, chief executive and chairman of NICE Systems |
| Education | BSc and MSc Electrical Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology |
Benny Levin is an Israeli businessman, philanthropist and retired lieutenant colonel in the Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Corps. He co-founded NICE Systems in 1986 and was its chief executive from its founding, and also its chairman from 1998 to 2001.[1]
Military intelligence and NICE
Keren Hayesod's biography says Levin served in the IDF Intelligence Corps, retired as a lieutenant colonel, and received the Chief of Intelligence Decoration for Creative Thinking while on active duty.[1] Globes wrote in 1999 that NICE Systems "is one of the companies responsible for the image of Israeli high-tech as an industry of former IDF personnel putting their Intelligence knowhow to civilian use". It said the company was founded in 1986 by a group of former IDF engineers who had worked as a team in uniform under David (Didi) Arzi, and that after "a long stint in the permanent army" they set up the company under Arzi and "his subaltern Benny Levin". In its early years NICE worked as a subcontractor to the military industries.[2] The sources do not name the unit, so a link to Unit 8200 is not stated here.
NICE moved into telephony voice recording in the early 1990s. In 1994 it sold its start-up NiceCom to 3Com for $54 million, which Globes called the first major sale of an Israeli high-tech company to a foreign buyer. Levin succeeded Arzi as chairman and president.[2][3]
Later roles
From 2004 to 2012 Levin chaired the health-IT company dbMotion. Keren Hayesod lists his later philanthropic roles as vice-chairman of IVN and active chairman of the Ben-Yakir and Kedma youth villages, among others.[1]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Keren Hayesod, Benny Levin Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal, accessed 19 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ronny Lifschitz, Benny Levin – Nice Systems Globes, 26 December 1999.
- ↑ Ami Ginsburg, Nice Chairman Didi Arazi to Resign End '98 Globes, 26 February 1998.