Israel is marking many firsts in space and has new frontiers of its own left to conquer. Yet its small size and lack of large scale funding haven’t prevented its space agency from reaching for the stars. In an interview with CTech, Isaac Ben-Israel, a leading expert in the cyber and space sectors shared his thoughts about the importance of cybersecurity, the expansion of the Israeli space industry, and upcoming Israeli space endeavors.
During his long career, Ben-Israel (71) initiated the establishment of Israel National Cyber Bureau and the National Cyber Security Authority, which became the Israel National Cyber Directorate at the Prime Minister's Office. Today, he works simultaneously as Head of the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center at Tel Aviv University, where he oversees multidisciplinary research projects. He also is Chairman of the Israel Space Agency, where he is involved in the oversight of projects for Israeli space exploration as well as embarking on educational quests for Israeli schoolchildren, and collaborating with other space agencies, such as NASA, in other missions.