At the Cybertech Global conference in Tel Aviv, Israel’s National Cyber Directorate head Brigadier General (res.) Yossi Karadi warned that a large-scale, artificial-intelligence-driven cyber war is imminent, predicting nations will face coordinated offensive and defensive AI agents capable of disrupting critical infrastructure sectors like energy, transportation, and telecommunications without a single bullet being fired, and revealed that his agency handled more than 26,000 serious cyberattack incidents in 2025, a 55 percent increase from the previous year, while outlining a new multi-year national cyber defense plan focusing on cloud security, cyber AI, and readiness for the quantum era, together with enhanced cooperation between government, private industry, and international partners to prepare for this emerging digital battlefield.
Sources
https://www.jpost.com/defense-and-tech/article-884683
https://www.timesofisrael.com/fought-without-a-single-bullet-official-warns-of-coming-ai-driven-cyber-war/
https://israel.com/security/suspected-border-infiltration-in-southern-israel-dismissed/
Key Takeaways
• Israel’s National Cyber Directorate reports a substantial rise in cyberattacks in 2025, up 55 percent year-over-year, and warns of a future cyber war driven by AI agents.
• Yossi Karadi argues that future conflicts may be won or lost in cyberspace without traditional kinetic combat, emphasizing national readiness and cross-sector cooperation.
• A new national cyber defense strategy prioritizes cloud security, AI threats, and quantum preparedness, while strengthening ties with international partners.
In-Depth
At a high-profile cybersecurity gathering in Tel Aviv this January, Brigadier General (ret.) Yossi Karadi, director general of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, delivered a stark forecast for the future of national security, declaring that the next major theater of conflict will be fought not with missiles and tanks but with lines of code powered by artificial intelligence. Karadi’s remarks reflect a broader reassessment of how national defense must evolve in the face of rapidly advancing digital threats. His assessment is grounded in recent operational experience: the Directorate handled more than 26,000 serious cyber incident responses in 2025, representing a steep rise of 55 percent compared with the previous year. The data points to a landscape where financial institutions, government networks, and digital service providers are increasingly targeted, and where the scale and sophistication of attacks are escalating with each passing quarter. In his speech, Karadi described a potential future “war” scenario in which coordinated AI-driven offensive and defensive agents could simultaneously launch and counterattack, crippling key infrastructure—power grids, transportation systems, telecommunications networks—without any kinetic engagement. He warned that such a conflict could occur silently and rapidly, disrupting a nation’s ability to function, upend daily life, and even threaten lives as essential services falter under digital assault.
In light of these challenges, Karadi outlined a comprehensive national cyber defense initiative designed to bolster Israel’s resilience. The strategy is built around three central pillars: enhancing cloud security architectures, developing advanced AI tools for both defensive and offensive cyber operations, and preparing for threats posed by the advent of quantum computing, which could render traditional encryption obsolete. This multi-year plan also emphasizes strengthening detection and response capabilities, establishing national laboratories focused on emerging technologies such as deepfake detection, and integrating private sector innovation into national defense planning. Karadi’s remarks underscore a shifting paradigm in which cybersecurity is no longer a supporting element of military strategy but a core domain of national defense in its own right. His call for broader cooperation between government agencies, the private cybersecurity industry, and international allies reinforces the view that confronting these digital threats requires shared intelligence, coordinated policy, and robust technological investment. The warnings delivered in Tel Aviv echo a growing consensus among defense planners that the next major conflicts—whether against state actors or criminal syndicates—will increasingly unfold in cyberspace, and that preparedness today is essential to prevent catastrophe tomorrow.