Meet Brig.-Gen. Yael Grossman, one of the highest-ranked women in the IDF

• Published date: 20 April 2024
• Author: YONAH JEREMY BOB
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Although the army has gotten better in recent years [in that regard], breaking certain glass ceilings at the highest levels is still notoriously hard, so anyone like Grossman who makes the cut is formidable, and it is evident immediately in the confidence that she exudes

In a recent interview with the Magazine, Brig.-Gen. Grossman, commander of the IDF intelligence division LOTEM, discussed her unit's impact on Iran, tunnel warfare, precision warfare, humanitarian aid, Oct. 7 resilience, her path as a woman toward breaking barriers, and a variety of other issues.

The LOTEM Technology Division is the army's largest software house. It is responsible for increasing the IDF's ability to streamline resources, cut through red tape, provide operational offensive and defensive support, and improve services for recruits and career officers.

Iran

Discussing increased cyber threats from Iran, which the computing system unit MAMRAM and other parts of LOTEM and IDF intelligence must confront, Grossman said that Israel faces many challenges, and that it is "not always only directly from them [Tehran] but often "from their proxies – where there is regular friction [attempted cyberattacks].

"There are great people in [the IDF's] information technology defense, and they are extremely active, without people hearing about all the obstacles they must overcome," she said in praise of Israel's anonymous cyber defenders, many of whom work for her.

She also said that the challenge of defending the IDF's ever-expanding digital surface area has intensified significantly since Oct. 7, given the many different new potential attack vectors brought about by the massive expansion of the cloud to handle so much new data related to the war.

"When you build a building, you should construct the defenses into the foundation from the start. Then it is not a question of building defenses from scratch, but how does one scale the defenses up to keep pace with the growth of the digital surface area," said Grossman, explaining the IDF's success in its cyberdefense.

She said the large influx of reservists has also been a huge help. "Many of them are senior managers within the hi-tech or cyber industries, so they have capabilities to accomplish many tasks at an incredibly fast rate," even compared to bright, but younger, mandatory service members of LOTEM.

Tunnels

Regarding assisting the IDF in overcoming obstacles in tunnel warfare, the LOTEM commander said her staff "are always there. We have been very substantial in ensuring the reliability of communications [underground] and have built [new kinds] of data infrastructure which can manage additional" kinds of technology needed...