While the previous edition of The Jerusalem Report dealt mainly with matters of the past, this edition looks at how new technology and geopolitical changes sparked by global conflicts are impacting our world.
One of the greatest changes we are witnessing today is the way warfare is being conducted, raising many questions about how wars will be fought in the future.
In Gaza, Lebanon, and recently in Iran, the IDF used advanced technology and, according to some reports, even AI to track down and target the enemy. From autonomous military vehicles to sophisticated defense systems and hi-tech killer drones, the current conflicts are a turning point for warfare.
In this issue, the cover story by The Jerusalem Post’s defense and tech editor Anna Aronheim offers a deep dive into how new military technology employed in conflicts from the Middle East to Europe and Asia is reshaping the way wars are being fought.
Feature writer Tobias Holcman focuses on how the energy sector, under fire in the current wars, can be better protected and made more resilient with renewable power and sustainable, greener technology.
We look at how artificial intelligence is shaping all this new technology, with contributions from Lior Rokach, an Israeli professor selected to join a highly influential UN panel to monitor and map AI; Aviva Steinberger, the interim CEO of Startup Nation Central, who highlights how Israel is succeeding in integrating AI in its tech sector; and Gilad Be’ery, head of the Israel Democracy Institute’s Economic Reform Program, discussing how we can better prepare for a future with AI.
Anne Baer, CEO of iKare Innovation Ltd. and director of Women in Tech® Israel, highlights the lack of women in Israel’s hi-tech sector, while feature writer Batsheva Shulman profiles three women helping other women to enter the industry.
We also look at some of the positive aspects of Israel’s innovation with Patricia Golan exploring how the Negev is rapidly becoming a hi-tech hub and Hagit Freud, managing director of the Israeli nonprofit Nura Global Innovation Lab, looks at how Israeli innovation is building bridges around the world.
We also take a deeper look at the fallout of the war, with a shaky ceasefire still in place as we go to print. Former Israeli deputy foreign minister and ambassador Danny Ayalon, together with Middle East analyst Moran Alaluf, look at what the West gets wrong about Iran and why it took so long to reach even a shaky ceasefire.
Gali Ingber, from Israel’s College of Management Academic Studies, outlines the rising costs of Israel’s wars, and Shiri Fein-Grossman, from Forum Dvorah, highlights the shifting regional alliances and why they are important.
Dana Ben-Shimon spoke with Gazans who feel that the conflict with Iran has eclipsed their ongoing plight; and Ofer Guterman from the INSS argues that in order for Gaza to be rehabilitated effectively, it must be deradicalized.
Sagiv Steinberg, CEO of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, delves into the Iran war from a US perspective, offering insight as to why Israel is now center stage; and Iranian-born Sara Bazoobandi, a member of MENA2050 – a nonprofit for Middle East development – explains how the Islamic Republic has weaponized science in the name of jihad.
It is a packed edition, with some high-end writers grappling with hi-tech and high-stakes matters. I hope their words will offer a deeper understanding of the new – and often scary – world that we are now living in.
– Ruth Marks Eglash
