Fifth Dimension
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
| Fifth Dimension
| |
|---|---|
| Trade name | Fifth Dimension Holdings |
| Type | Private company |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder(s) | Guy Caspi, Doron Cohen |
| Defunct | December 2018 |
| Headquarters | 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.[1] Der Spiegel reported in 2016 that its management team and about 80 per cent of its staff came from Israel's security forces.[2] Fifth Dimension closed in December 2018 after a planned sale to the spyware company NSO Group collapsed.[3] A criminal investigation into how it obtained a grant from the Israel Police was closed in 2023.[4]
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).[1] 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.[1]
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).[2]
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".[1] In 2018 it again described the company's chairperson as "former IDF Chief of Staff".[3] The Times of Israel later described him as "National Unity leader and former defense minister".[4]
- 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.[2]
- 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).[2]
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.[3]
Police grant investigation
According to The Times of Israel, a 2019 report by the 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".[4]
See also
- Deep Instinct
- Benny Gantz
- NSO Group
- Cyber and tech firms founded by ex Unit 8200 or occupation forces veterans
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Roy Goldenberg, Former IDF chief to chair big data co Fifth Dimension Globes, 7 September 2015, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Marcel Rosenbach, Israel: Wo Hacker zu IT-Experten werden (Israel: where hackers become IT experts), Der Spiegel (German), 6 October 2016, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Tal Shahaf, US gov't torpedoed Fifth Dimension sale to NSO Globes, 16 December 2018, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Jeremy Sharon and ToI Staff, Officials close criminal probe of cybersecurity firm formerly headed by Gantz The Times of Israel, 4 April 2023, accessed 10 November 2026.