An Israeli military intelligence unit for special forces is on the verge of demonstrating its value to Israel's tech economy again, as Alphabet, Google's parent company, looks to acquire Wiz, a cybersecurity technology company, for a whopping $23 billion. A source stated that Alphabet is in advanced talks to buy Wiz from its founder Assaf Rappaport, a former officer from military unit 8200, known for producing tech entrepreneurs.
The war in Gaza is putting pressure on the Israeli economy, but the deal underscores the resilience of the tech industry, which accounts for about 20 percent of output and roughly 15 percent of jobs. The acquisition highlights the military's role in developing one of Israel's most successful sectors. Alongside universities, military intelligence and technology units like 8200 have spawned leaders in hundreds of tech startups, helping to transform Israel into what is widely regarded as the second tech hub in the world after Silicon Valley.
Companies like Check Point Software Technologies, Nice, Palo Alto Networks, CyberArk, Wiz—acquired by Google for $1 billion—are part of a group whose founders have military roots. Rappaport credits the army for his success and once described unit 8200 as "the best school for entrepreneurship." He served there with Yinon Kostika, Roy Resnick, and Amy Lutuak, with whom he co-founded his previous cloud security company, Adallom, in 2012, which was sold to Microsoft three years later for $320 million.
In 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the four established Wiz for cloud cybersecurity, which quickly grew to a valuation of $12 billion after a $1 billion funding round in May of this year.
