Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The first bullet factory in Israel was built by the Jewish community in Palestine in 1945, as they knew the British would soon leave and the Arabs would attack. It was a defining moment for Avidar, who knew that Israel would survive if the Jews had quality weapons. #2 The Ayalon Institute was built on the hilltop, and it was there that the Jewish Scouts movement began working on building bullets. The factory was built to look like a kibbutz so that it would not seem unusual for Jews to be working together. #3 The Ayalon Institute, which was a subterranean bullet factory, was operational for almost three years, from 1945 until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. It produced more than two million nine-millimeter bullets. #4 After the war, the Ayalon Institute folded into Israel Military Industries, the country’s first defense company. But that would take some time. In the meantime, Israel needed to get weapons, and it needed them fast.

"A lively account of Israel's evolving military prowess...if The Weapon Wizards were a novel, it would be one written by Horatio Alger; if it were a biblical allegory, it would be the story of David and Goliath." —The New York Times Book Review From drones to satellites, missile defense systems to cyber warfare, Israel is leading the world when it comes to new technology being deployed on the modern battlefield. The Weapon Wizards shows how this tiny nation of 8 million learned to adapt to the changes in warfare and in the defense industry and become the new prototype of a 21st century superpower, not in size, but rather in innovation and efficiency—and as a result of its long war experience. Sitting on the front lines of how wars are fought in the 21st century, Israel has developed in its arms trade new weapons and retrofitted old ones so they remain effective, relevant, and deadly on a constantly-changing battlefield. While other countries begin to prepare for these challenges, they are looking to Israel—and specifically its weapons—for guidance. Israel is, in effect, a laboratory for the rest of the world. How did Israel do it? And what are the military and geopolitical implications of these developments? These are some of the key questions Yaakov Katz and Amir Bohbot address. Drawing on a vast amount of research, and unparalleled access to the Israeli defense establishment, this book is a report directly from the front lines.

"From drones to satellites, missile defense systems to cyber warfare, Israel is leading the world when it comes to new technology being deployed on the modern battlefield. The Weapon Wizards shows how this tiny nation of 8 million learned to adapt to the changes in warfare and become the new prototype of a 21st century superpower, not in size, but rather in innovation and efficiency--and as a result of its long war experience. Sitting on the front lines of how wars are fought in the 21st century, Israel has developed new weapons and retrofitted old ones so they remain effective, relevant, and deadly on a constantly-changing battlefield. While other countries begin to prepare for these challenges, they are looking to Israel--and specifically its weapons--for guidance. Israel is, in effect, a laboratory for the rest of the world. How did Israel do it? And what are the military and geopolitical implications of these developments? These are some of the key questions Yaakov Katz and Amir Bohbot address. Drawing on a vast amount of research, and unparalleled access to the Israeli defense establishment, this book is a report directly from the front lines"--

National security affairs analyst Ehud Eilam examines the strategy of containment in the Middle East as it is currently pursued. For the United States, containment is a way to avoid war with Iran and thwart its nuclear weapons program. For Israel it has been a way to prevent a confrontation with the Palestinians in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In other cases containment is meant to weaken a foe without starting a war, as Israel did by bombing shipments of weapons to Hezbollah. Containment was also part of the war in Syria--because the West lacked the ability to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, though it cost the civilian population there dearly. Egypt has been trying to contain both its enormous economic hardships and ISIS, primarily in the Sinai Peninsula. Ultimately Eilam provides important and timely insights into the Middle East's perennially fluid and volatile political environment. His insights and analyses will be of interest not least in the corridors of power both here and abroad.

Examines the global interaction between military-civil fusion and the fourth industrial revolution, and how it affects military innovation.

This book examines the implications of disruptive technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) on military innovation and the use of force. It provides an in-depth understanding of how both large and small militaries are seeking to leverage 4IR emerging technologies and the effects such technologies may have on future conflicts. The 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), the confluence of disruptive changes brought by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnologies, and autonomous systems, has a profound impact on the direction and character of military innovation and use of force. The core themes in this edited volume reflect on the position of emerging technologies in the context of previous Revolutions in Military Affairs; compare how large resource-rich states (US, China, Russia) and small resource-limited states (Israel, Sweden, Norway) are adopting and integrating novel technologies and explore the difference between various innovation and adaptation models. The book also examines the operational implications of emerging technologies in potential flashpoints such as the South China Sea and the Baltic Sea. Written by a group of international scholars, this book uncovers the varying 4IR defence innovation trajectories, enablers, and constraints in pursuing military-technological advantages that will shape the character of future conflicts. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Strategic Studies.

Relations between Israel and the Gulf states are not anything new. In the immediate aftermath of the 1993 Oslo Accords, both Qatar and Oman established low-level yet open diplomatic ties with Israel. In 2010, Ha'aretz reported that the former Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, was on friendly terms with Shaykh Abdullah Ibn Zayed, her counterpart from the UAE, despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties between the two states. The shared suspicion towards the regional designs of Iran that undoubtedly underpinned these ties even extended, it was alleged, to a secret dialogue between Israel and Saudi Arabia, led by the late Meir Dagan, the former head of Mossad. Cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia in thwarting Iran's regional ambitions also casts light on Washington's lack of strategic leadership, which had previously been the totem around which Israel and the Gulf states had based regional security strategies. Jones and Guzansky contend that, at the very least, ties between Israel and many of its Gulf counterparts are now more vibrant than hitherto realized. They constitute a tacit security regime which, while based on hard power interests, does not preclude competition in other areas. Ultimately, these relations are helping shape a new regional order in the Middle East.