(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning (Tuesday, 3 September 2013), dedicated the high-tech park in Be'er Sheva, which will also serve as the national cyber center, and said:
"We need to see to our security. This is our first obligation, as well as mine as Prime Minister, and this is a challenge for us because the reality around is challenging. In the end, our lives depend on an iron wall. We are building an iron wall, an Iron Dome, and we have an iron will. These are the things that give us the strength to defend ourselves and also to tell those who would attack us: It is not worth your while. These are the fundamentals that protect the State of Israel. Everything else is happening here now.
The world around us is changing quickly and the amount of knowledge is increasing geometrically. This knowledge has created new challenges but also new opportunities and cyber is the greatest area that is happening here, and we are a force in it. We are bringing Israel's cybernetic strength here to Be'er Sheva."
The park will serve as a leading technological center in Israel and the world. It was built close to
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and IDF technological units. Several leading high-tech companies chose to move to temporary facilities already in 2011 in order to assure their future presence in the first building, which was dedicated in June of this year.
Among the Israeli and international high-tech companies located in the first building are ECI Telecom, JVP, NESS, EMC, Elbit, Deutsche Telekom (in conjunction with Ben-Gurion University), Gefen Dekel and DBMotion.
The park is expected to significantly increase the supply of employment in Be'er Sheva and provide tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the coming decade. The park was established on approximately 49.42 acres and includes approximately 200,000 square meters of space in approximately 20 buildings, commercial space and parking areas.
The
Israel National Cyber Bureau, in cooperation with the Be'er Sheva Municipality and Ben-Gurion University, has developed an outline to turn Be'er Sheva into an international cyber center by establishing a cyber complex that will include industry, academia, the security and defense establishments, and scientific-technological education institutions.
The statement on turning Be'er Sheva into a national cyber center follows the
14 July 2013 Cabinet decision on the civilian response to the IDF's move to the Negev in which the INCB was charged with formulating an outline for establishing a unique cyber center in Be'er Sheva that would combine industry, research and development and education.
The cyber center that will be built in the framework of the high-tech park and the university will be unique in the country and the world and will attract organizations that are interested in investing in the cyber field, establish research and development centers or acquiring services and research in the field.
The team that is leading the establishment of the national center that will give an immediate response to cyber events is known by the acronym CERT – Computer Emergency Readiness Team. The national CERT will bring with it security and innovation in the field of defense for the country's civilian sector. The CERT will be established within the cyber complex and will be the first national government agency to be based in the city.
The national cyber center will also supply the necessary knowledge for cyber studies in formal and informal education and will train and guide teachers.
In order to advance the issue, NIS 40 million in Government support has been allocated over the next three years for companies that establish cyber innovation centers in Be'er Sheva.