Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that the government approved Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Karadi is the new chief of the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD), replacing Gabi Portnoy, who has served in the post since February 2022.
Karadi has spent 31 years in the IDF, with his most recent post being as the top official for the Communications Command. Most of his experience is also in communications, which also has significant responsibility for cyber defense.
Portnoy was previously CEO of ENvizion Medical and a former IDF Brig. Gen. in intelligence, who served in both Unit 8200 and 9900, but was appointed by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Although Portnoy was credited with a strong cyber defense for Israel, including zero successful infrastructure cyber attacks on Israel throughout the current war (despite increased attempts by Iran and Hezbollah), he never had as close a relationship with Netanyahu as some prior cyber chiefs since he was appointed by Bennett.
Cyber background
Neither Karadi nor Portnoy had as extensive a cyber background as predecessors Yigal Unna and Buky Carmeli had, but he is viewed as a top-notch candidate with a more than sufficient background in cyber and excellent experience in management.
Unna and Carmeli have been credited with keeping Israel relatively free of mega cyber hacks as compared to the US and some other Western countries, though the rate of successful major hacks on Israel increased in the coronavirus era when large new parts of the economy moved into the digital sphere.
In addition, the cyber capabilities of Israeli adversaries, like Iran, have progressed significantly.
