A symbol of artificial intelligence. Photo: public domain.

JNS.org – The Israeli Defense Ministry announced on Jan. 1 the creation of a new AI and Autonomy Administration, tasked with leading the research, development and acquisition of artificial intelligence and autonomous capabilities for all branches of the Israel Defense Forces. The new administration is set to transform “battlefield capabilities and [maintain] the IDF’s operational edge,” according to the Defense Ministry’s statement.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, the ministry’s director general, emphasized during an inauguration ceremony held on Dec. 31 that this is the first new administration established within the ministry in over two decades. Highlighting its importance, Zamir said it will not only enhance operational superiority, but also optimize resources and integrate soldiers with autonomous systems, shaping future battlefields where human-machine collaboration will dominate.

Brig. Gen. (res.) Daniel Gold, head of the Directorate of Defense Research and Development under which the new AI Administration will operate, explained that the initiative will unite stakeholders from academia, the Israel Defense Forces, startups and the defense industry under a single framework.

“We will work synergistically with other development administrations while fostering partnerships across Israel’s civilian tech sector,” he said.

Leaders in the field

In his remarks, Gold also addressed the role of the new administration in maintaining Israel’s commitment to global leadership in military AI.

Retired US Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at Washington D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), described the initiative as a sound decision that will further streamline integration of AI and autonomous systems into the military.

“The Israeli Ministry of Defense already has a higher level of integration of AI efforts than any other country, and this will serve to increase that advantage,” Montgomery told JNS on Saturday.

“There are a great deal of capabilities that already give Israel a qualitative military and technological advantage over its adversaries—a healthy entrepreneurial environment focused on security issues, its strong security relationship with the United States, a commitment to holding adversaries accountable. This effort to better integrate MOD adoption of AI and autonomous systems will be one more arrow in that quiver,” he said.

“The United States has been struggling with this same integration challenge over the past five years with limited success. The larger the enterprise you are trying to integrate, the harder the task,” he added.

Blaise Misztal, Vice President for Policy at the Jewish Institute for Washington D.C.-based National Security of America (JINSA), told JNS: “Artificial intelligence is not simply a piece of equipment that can be bolted onto a tank or a weapon [and] handed out to some units. AI’s promise of a complete transformation of how the IDF fights—from analyzing intelligence to making battlefield decisions to using autonomous systems—will also require a transformation of the IDF. The creation of this new AI-focused administration is a recognition of AI’s vast potential, the significant changes that will be needed, and the high-level authority required to drive those changes. It also speaks to the MOD’s understanding that one of Israel’s most significant assets is the innovation of its private sector and the desire to harness it in driving forward defense technology.”

According to Misztal, technological superiority is a critical strategic asset for Israel.

“Since ‘Operation Guardian of the Walls’ in 2021, but especially in the current campaigns against Hamas and Hezbollah, the IDF has used artificial intelligence to accelerate and improve its ability to find, identify and strike targets. As the security landscape changes and Israel now finds itself confronting enemies further away—the Houthis—or more technologically advanced—Iran—it will need to invest in maintaining its military edge. AI is that edge,” he said.

He added that AI’s value is not limited to transforming the IDF’s fighting ability, but is also a means of boosting Israel’s strategic value as a partner to the United States and other countries.

“By leading the way on AI—which will be just as important in the competition between the United States and China as on Middle Eastern battlefields—Israel can cement its status as America’s most important partner for confronting 21st century challenges,” said Misztal.

Operational and strategic implications

Zamir described the Defense Ministry’s initiative as an investment in Israel’s ability to counter developing threats while maintaining its operational tempo and reducing casualties. The administration’s comprehensive approach, covering ground, air, naval, intelligence and space domains, ensures that all branches of the IDF will benefit from the integration of AI and autonomous technologies.

By centralizing expertise and fostering collaboration across sectors, the AI and Autonomy Administration underscores the IDF’s focus on maintaining qualitative military superiority, which has been central to Israel’s defense strategy. It marks a historic step in Israel’s defense evolution, combining technological innovation with strategic foresight.

Israel’s initiative reflects a growing global recognition of AI as a decisive factor in future conflicts. The nation’s leadership in AI ensures that it remains not only a regional power, but also a key player on the global stage, shaping the future of military innovation.

The post Israel’s New AI Initiative Is Set to Enhance its Military Edge first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei visits the Iranian centrifuges in Tehran, Iran, June 11, 2023. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran‘s foreign ministry called upon Paris to review its “unconstructive” approach, a few days before Tehran is set to hold a new round of talks about its nuclear program with major European countries.

On Monday, Emmanuel Macron said Tehran’s uranium enrichment drive is nearing a point of no return and warned that European partners in a moribund 2015 nuclear deal with Iran should consider reimposing sanctions if no progress is reached.

“Untrue claims by a government that has itself refused to fulfill its obligations under the nuclear deal and has played a major role in [Israel’s] acquisition of nuclear weapons is deceitful and projective,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on X on Wednesday.

France, Germany, and Britain were co-signatories to the 2015 deal in which Iran agreed to curb enrichment, seen by the West as a disguised effort to develop nuclear-weapons capability, in return for lifting international sanctions.

Iran says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes and has stepped up the program since US President-elect Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the 2015 deal during his first term of office and restored tough US sanctions on Tehran.

French, German, and British diplomats are set to hold a follow-up meeting with Iranian counterparts on Jan. 13 after one in November held to discuss the possibility of serious negotiations in coming months to defuse tensions with Tehran, as Trump is due to return to the White House on Jan. 20.

Baghaei did not mention French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot’s comment regarding three French citizens held in Iran.

Barrot said on Tuesday that future ties and any lifting of sanctions on Iran would depend on their release.

The post Iran Tells France to Review ‘Unconstructive’ Approach Ahead of Nuclear Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Suleiman Frangieh, leader of the Marada movement, gestures as he speaks after meeting with Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, in Bkerke, Lebanon, Oct.30, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon‘s parliament will try to elect a president on Thursday, with officials seeing better chances of success in a political landscape shaken by Israel’s war with Hezbollah and the toppling of the Lebanese terrorist group’s ally Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria.

The post, reserved for a Maronite Christian in the country’s sectarian power-sharing system, has been vacant since Michel Aoun’s term ended in October, 2022. None of the political groups in the 128-seat parliament have enough seats to impose their choice, and they have so far been unable to agree on a consensus candidate.

The vote marks the first test of Lebanon‘s power balance since the Iran-backed Shi’ite terrorist group Hezbollah — which propelled its then Christian ally Aoun to the presidency in 2016 ‚ emerged badly pummeled from the war with Israel.

It takes place against a backdrop of historic change in the wider Middle East, where the Assad-led Syrian state exercised sway over Lebanon for decades, both directly and through allies such as Hezbollah.

Reflecting the shifts, Hezbollah and its ally the Shi’ite Amal Movement led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri have dropped their insistence on Suleiman Frangieh, their declared candidate for the last two years, and are ready to go with a less divisive figure, three senior sources familiar with their thinking said.

Candidates in focus include army commander General Joseph Aoun — said by Lebanese politicians to enjoy US approval — Jihad Azour, a senior International Monetary Fund official who formerly served as finance minister, and Major-General Elias al-Baysari — head of General Security, a state security agency.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he felt happy because “God willing, tomorrow we will have a new president,” according to a statement from his office.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also expressed hope in comments to France Inter radio, saying the election was “a prerequisite for the continuation of this dynamic of peace” and also for Lebanon‘s economic and social recovery.

However, two of the sources and an analyst cautioned that it was not yet certain any candidate would be elected. To win, a candidate must secure 86 votes in a first round, or 65 in a second round.

Reflecting Western and regional interest in the vote, French and Saudi envoys met Lebanese politicians in Beirut on Wednesday. Four Lebanese political sources who met the Saudi envoy, Prince Yazid bin Farhan, last week said he spelt out preferred qualifications which signal Saudi support for Aoun.

Saudi Arabia was once a big player in Lebanon, vying with Tehran for influence in Beirut, before seeing its role eclipsed by Iran and Hezbollah.

HEZBOLLAH STILL SEEN WITH SWAY

Aoun, head of Lebanon‘s US-backed army, would still need 86 votes because his election requires a constitutional amendment, as he is a still-serving state employee, Berri has said.

A State Department spokesperson said it was “up to Lebanon to choose its next president, not the United States or any external actor.”

“We have been consistent in our efforts to press Lebanon to elect a new president, which we see as important to strengthening Lebanon’s political institutions,” the spokesperson said.

Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa said last week there was “no veto” on Aoun. But the sources said Hezbollah, designated a terrorist group by the United States and other countries, will not support Aoun.

Aoun has a key role in shoring up the ceasefire brokered by Washington and Paris in November. The terms require the Lebanese military to deploy into south Lebanon as Israeli troops and Hezbollah withdraw forces.

Still reeling from a financial collapse in 2019, Lebanon desperately needs foreign aid to rebuild.

Much of the damage is in Shi’ite majority areas.

Hezbollah, its supply line to Iran severed by Assad’s ousting, has urged Arab and international support for Lebanon.

Lebanon‘s Maronite Bishops called on lawmakers to elect a president, urging a “national awakening.”

Nabil Boumonsef, deputy editor-in-chief of Annahar newspaper, was not certain anyone would be elected, even after the major shift in the balance of power in Lebanon, where Hezbollah‘s weapons have long been a source of division.

Underlining the influence Hezbollah and Amal still wield, he said the only way a president could be elected would be if they agreed on Aoun or Azour. But if they tried to install their preferred candidate, this would “sever the oxygen from Lebanon.”

Saudi Minister Faisal bin Farhan said last October that Riyadh had never fully disengaged from Lebanon and that outside countries should not tell Lebanese what to do.

The post With Hezbollah Weakened, Lebanon to Hold Presidential Vote first appeared on Algemeiner.com.