Israel's Edge: The Story of The IDF's Most Elite Unit - Talpiot (Gefen Publishing) - Softcover

Gewirtz, Jason

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9652297135 ISBN 13: 9789652297136

Publisher: Gefen Publishing House, 2015

Synopsis

How will Israel keep its strategic edge over an increasingly dangerous Iran? Israel has been preparing for this day by creating a special and secretive IDF unit called Talpiot.
Instead of being trained to fight, the few soldiers each year selected for Talpiot are taught how to think. In order to join this unit they have to commit to being in the army for ten years, rather than the three years a normal soldier serves.

Talpiots are taught advanced level physics, math and computer science as they train with soldiers from every other branch of the IDF. The result: young men and women become research and development machines. Talpiots have developed battle ready weapons that only Israel's top military officers and political leaders know about. They have also dramatically improved much of the weapons already in Israel's arsenal.

After leaving the army, Talpiots have become a major force in the Israeli economy, developing some of Israel's most famous and powerful companies.

Israel's Edge contains dozens of interviews with Talpiot graduates and some of the early founders of the program. It explains Talpiot's highly successful recruiting methods and discloses many of the secrets of the program's success. The book also profiles some of the most successful businesses founded by Talpiot graduates including CheckPoint, Compugen, Anobit, recently bought by Apple, and XIV, recently bought by IBM.No other military unit has had more of an impact on the State of Israel and no other unit will have more of an impact in the years ahead. The soldiers of Talpiot are truly unsung heroes.

About this title

About the Author

As executive producer for the business network CNBC, Jason Gewirtz has covered Israel and Israeli business including working for the network from northern Israel during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, and following Warren Buffett to the country when the billionaire investor bought the metalworking company ISCAR, his first foreign purchase. Jason has also covered the attacks from Gaza on southern Israeli towns like Sderot and examined the economic impact. He produced Beyond the Barrel: The Race to Fuel the Future, which was shot on five continents and was largely focused on several Israeli-born energy technologies. He currently produces Power Lunch, which is broadcast live every day jointly from CNBC's global headquarters and the New York Stock Exchange and can be viewed all over the world.

Edition details

• Publisher: Gefen Publishing House
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9652297135
• ISBN 13: 9789652297136
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 238