Israel Establishing National Cyber Defense Authority
![](https://images.forwardcdn.com/image/970x/center/images/cropped/w-cyber-warfarejpg-1425568271.jpg)
Image by Press TV
Israel will launch a national cyber defense authority to defend civilians against cyber threats.
The authority, which was announced at the regular weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, will act alongside the National Cyber Bureau, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Eviatar Matania, the head of the National Cyber Bureau, will lead its establishment, according to the statement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the beginning of the Cabinet meeting that the new authority in effect was “the creation of an air force against new threats.”
“We are in a new world; we are preparing with new forces,” he said. “This has very major significance for the defense of the State of Israel in the future.”
Matania called the decision “historic.”
“Dealing with the cyber threat on the national level in the coming decades constitutes a strategic challenge that all countries must deal with,” he said.
A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren
![](https://forward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jodi-Headshot.jpg)
We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.
With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.
— Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief