Israel’s Bennett says cyber tech could replace commandos

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said yesterday that Israeli IT specialists on their keyboards could replace sending commandos to fight in battlefields.

Speaking at the Tel Aviv University Cyber Week, Bennett said: “Just like there is nuclear deterrence, there is going to be cyber deterrence.”

He added: “My approach generally, and especially with Iran is that we do not go around wreaking havoc in Tehran, that has never been our policy, but our policy is if you mess with Israel, you will pay a price.”

The outgoing Israeli prime minister also said: “You can no longer hit Israel indirectly and through proxies and think you’ll get away with it.”

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“If you are a bully who sends folks – we will try to hit you… Anyone attacking us in cyber, we are going to attack back. We are not going to be feeble here.”

“We can get stuff done hitting your enemy through cyber. Before we needed to send 50-100 commandos behind enemy lines with huge risks.”

“Now, we get a bunch of smart folks together sitting at a keyboard and achieve the same effect…It is inevitable that cyber is going to become one, if not the most, prominent dimension of future warfare.”