“Israel is a very valued partner of NATO”
David van Weel, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, granted IsraelDefense a special interview during his recent visit to Israel. “Israel is a valued NATO partner, we share the same values”
Ami Rojkes Dombe
| 11/07/2022
David van Weel. Photo: NATO
What are the technological challenges facing NATO in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rising power of China? To understand these complex issues I sat down for a candid conversation with David van Weel, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, during his recent visit to Israel.
Mr. van Weel’s responsibilities span several arenas which fall under the definition of Emerging Security Threats, such as counter-terrorism, cyber, climate change and security and energy security.
“We have a new Innovation Fund , a Venture Capital fund with 22 nations directly contributing to the 1 billion Euro that we are going to invest in tech. We also have a defense innovation accelerator initiative that is starting now. Innovation is coming out of the private sector and into the defense sector.
“Electric cars, for example, are more software systems than hardware systems. We will see the same in the defense industry,” explains van Wheel.
“What we’re trying to do is to bridge that gap between the commercial and military sector in Europe and North America,” adds the NATO executive. “To do that, we are going to make use of existing accelerators or incubators that are already operating in these nations, that are now mainly focused on civilian startups and technologies. We are going to use them, their networks and education programs to create businesses out of good ideas or raw technologies, to actually work on NATO’s problems.
“For example, how can we communicate underwater over a distance of 100 kilometers? It’s something that can’t be done now with existing technology, but who knows, with the technologies that are around the corner, what we might get. We will select the best ideas and co-develop them with military end-users and scientists.”
The Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) project is comprised of two cycles, each lasting six months, for a total of one year. In the first cycle, the companies will receive 50,000 Euros each. Those who make it to the second round will get another 150,000. They will also enjoy NATO’s mentorship.
During his stay in Israel, Assistant Secretary General van Wheel paid a visit to TAU Ventures at the Tel Aviv University, an accelerator that is also used by the Israel Securities Authority (Shin Bet). He met with TAU Ventures Managing Partner Nimrod Cohen and its Director of Strategic Partnerships, Idan Fisher, as well as with the founders of XTEND and Cybra, who innovative Israeli startups, which presented their technological developments. TAU Ventures invests in AI, fintech, cyber, robotics, communication, advanced agriculture and health.
Will you open such an accelerator in Israel as well?
“At the moment the accelerators are all in NATO countries. Speaking hypothetically though, if we include partners in the future, TAU Ventures is the kind of accelerator we would be looking at.”
Article 5 Activation
NATO’s holy grail, the principle at the very heart of its founding treaty, is its Collective Defense Article (Article 5). This means that an attack against one Ally is considered as an attack against all. Yet, while this Article was originally meant in case of a nuclear war with Russia, an emerging question is whether this article would be activated during a cyberattack.
“In the case of Ukraine we had the Viasat attack, which was aimed at Ukraine – getting government communications out of business – but that had a cascading effect into other NATO countries. For examples, there were around 8000 wind turbines in Germany that were affected by this hack. So that was a good example of modern-day cyber warfare. Russia knew that there would most likely be a spillover effect of a targeted attack and did it anyway.
“So this is the world we live in now in cyberspace, a permanently contested space, there is no real distinction between peace, crisis and wartime. In cyber you also have crime organizations, terrorists, state actors and more. This is a very mirky terrain, and so we adopted our Article 5 statement on cyber.
“We realized that the next cyberattack might not be this one huge big bang…not a nuclear scenario – it might just be a very long-running, malicious cyber campaign that does strategic damage nonetheless.
“Now, Article 5 is not black and white. One nation that invokes Article 5 – there has to be full consensus from all the nations”, explains van Weel. This is why we went into Afghanistan, to support the US in response to 9/11. We all know that Article 5 is the holy grail, and if you Article 5 you erode the whole alliance, because that’s what it’s meant for.”
When it comes to sharing information among NATO Allies, van Weel makes a distinction between intelligence and cyber. “’Sharing is caring’ doesn’t count in the intelligence community, it is on a need-to-know basis,” he says, “Whilst in the world of trying to maintain damage at the lowest possible level, you need to share, and we see more of that happen, including zero-days.
“We’re also increasing our ties with industries, because what we saw now, for example, during the war in Ukraine, is that a lot of the initial information on the attacks was being seen by companies. So we need to cooperate.”
Hybrid warfare
NATO’s main threat is Russia, which is viewed as a global leader in the war of information. The Kremlin is known for resorting to any and all means for psychological manipulation on massive crowds using various media outlets.
“We monitor, with the use of AI what is happening on world platforms, how NATO is being perceived. For example, since the invasion of Ukraine we’ve been noticing spikes of disinformation – for example on the Nazis in Ukraine – going up steeply. And then the question is how do you counter this.
“Speed is of the essence, becuase if you let false information linger, it finds its way out. But it’s not only classification (that gets in the way), it’s that truth takes time – and a lie, or disinformation, doesn’t have to be true,” van Weel explains.
“So we have parties whose main aim is to make sure that we don’t believe in anything anymore. We want to maintain the public’s trust in what we communicate. So if we make a misstep once, then we lose the trust of our population. There’s a Dutch saying of “Trust comes by foot but it leaves by horse”. This is the risk that we run – we have to be right every time.
“You can imagine that the Russian narrative against NATO cannot always be countered by NATO, because those who believe the Russian narrative will not always believe our counter-narrative. We have to live with the fact that in open societies, there will be a percentage of people who are susceptible to campaigns that are anti-government, anti-institution, just because it appeals to their higher belief that the government is not working in their interest. Countries like Russia know how to reach these people.”
Energy security
Mr. van Weel explains that NATO’s mandate as far as energy is concerned, is guaranteeing that European armies have enough energy to operate effectively when facing a military threat. “We look at energy as an enabler for our military forces. We’re looking at whether we have a proper infrastructure in place, and also who is the provider of that gas. We share this information with the EU and the other nations.
“I think that we all agree now that we have to move away from Russia fossil fuel and gas. At the same time, we all know that there’s an energy transition from fossil fuels. So we have a short-term issue and a long-term issue.
“In the short term, the question is how do we get our storages full enough, how can we ensure that we have enough supply as populations but also from the military point of view. In the long term, it is about the energy transition away from fossil fuels and what will be the role of the military. Because the military will also move away from fossil fuel.
“Nobody knows what the energy needs will look like in the future. Most likely, we will have hydrogen for the heavier equipment. So if that becomes the norm, the military will have to move into that direction as well – otherwise you will have your separate infrastructure from the civilian, which becomes trouble. It’s very expensive to have your own refineries and stations. “I think that diversification is key, not being dependent on one type of energy, on one supplier.”
Future technologies
Mr. van Weel explains that NATO also addresses future technologies and how they would best be implemented in the battlefield. He notes “data, AI, autonomy, quantum computing, biotech, human engineering” – some of which are already in use, while others are around the corner.
One of NATO’s concerns , until recently, is that US and European engineers are less keen on working on military projects, fearing that the very technologies they will develop might be use NATO for unethical actions.
“I think that Mr. Putin has changed that, has created a bridge into realizing that you need your own defense systems, based on your own values, to defend against those who don’t share your values, which can literally ruin your life. But we also need to create trust by showing that we are responsible users of technology,” explains the Assistant Secretary General.
“So when I talk about AI and autonomy, the immediate reaction for some is killer robots that will kill us all based on facial recognition and AI – but that’s not what we do, that’s not how we want to use technology.”
NATO’s handling of future technologies is concentrated under a special program called Emerging and Disruptive Technologies, or EDT. It is a specific think tank whose goal is to publish usage strategies for all such technologies. Van Weel provides an example of the AI strategy EDT created, noting it is unclassified and available to the public.
“We have principles of responsible use, what we want to adhere to. It needs to be lawful, unbiased. That’s a way of showing to the developers that we need that we are actually the good guys, and that it’s probably better to work for us than for a Chinese telecommunication company, which is what they do now.”
Climate change
Fire, flooding, migration and other natural phenomena could have a deep effect on NATO, should European military forces need to respond. In addition, phenomena like sand storms in Iraq
Interrupt NATO’s activities in the region.
“We need to be aware of this in regards to the future,” explains van Weel. “What will be the economic future of the Middle East if we transition away from fossil fuels? Some economies are very highly dependent on that for their existence.
“The second part is adaptation. We are going to run into more extreme temperatures, operate in harsher climates, we need to adapt our forces. And the third force is mitigation – what we are doing ourselves to reduce our greenhouse gases. We can’t compromise on military effectiveness, but the same way we now see electric cars with better results than those running on fossil fuel, I’m pretty sure that the military will go in the same flow.
“We are trying to encourage our nations to put more effort into green tech, innovation. The DIANA accelerator program will have ‘green’ as one of its founding principles, and our innovation fund will also have a focus on green technology.”
Israel and NATO
Israel is not a NATO member, but cooperates with it on various levels. “Israel is a very valued partner. All of our partners are valued, but some are different than others,” says van Weel. “The reason I’m here – if you look at innovation, cyber, counter-terrorism hybrid warfare – there is a lot of knowledge and expertise here, in Israel, that is to the mutual benefit of exchanging information and cooperating on.
“We have a long-standing cooperation in the field of cyber between NATO and Israel, the same goes for counter-terrorism. I’m also here to talk about NATO’s new innovation and see how we can cooperate there in the future.
“These fields are about taking your values into how you operate militarily, and if we are with more countries that share these values and can shape the future, it’s better than if the other side makes up the rules for us.”
David van Weel, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, granted IsraelDefense a special interview during his recent visit to Israel. “Israel is a valued NATO partner, we share the same values”
David van Weel. Photo: NATO
What are the technological challenges facing NATO in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rising power of China? To understand these complex issues I sat down for a candid conversation with David van Weel, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, during his recent visit to Israel.
Mr. van Weel’s responsibilities span several arenas which fall under the definition of Emerging Security Threats, such as counter-terrorism, cyber, climate change and security and energy security.
“We have a new Innovation Fund , a Venture Capital fund with 22 nations directly contributing to the 1 billion Euro that we are going to invest in tech. We also have a defense innovation accelerator initiative that is starting now. Innovation is coming out of the private sector and into the defense sector.
“Electric cars, for example, are more software systems than hardware systems. We will see the same in the defense industry,” explains van Wheel.
“What we’re trying to do is to bridge that gap between the commercial and military sector in Europe and North America,” adds the NATO executive. “To do that, we are going to make use of existing accelerators or incubators that are already operating in these nations, that are now mainly focused on civilian startups and technologies. We are going to use them, their networks and education programs to create businesses out of good ideas or raw technologies, to actually work on NATO’s problems.
“For example, how can we communicate underwater over a distance of 100 kilometers? It’s something that can’t be done now with existing technology, but who knows, with the technologies that are around the corner, what we might get. We will select the best ideas and co-develop them with military end-users and scientists.”
The Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) project is comprised of two cycles, each lasting six months, for a total of one year. In the first cycle, the companies will receive 50,000 Euros each. Those who make it to the second round will get another 150,000. They will also enjoy NATO’s mentorship.
During his stay in Israel, Assistant Secretary General van Wheel paid a visit to TAU Ventures at the Tel Aviv University, an accelerator that is also used by the Israel Securities Authority (Shin Bet). He met with TAU Ventures Managing Partner Nimrod Cohen and its Director of Strategic Partnerships, Idan Fisher, as well as with the founders of XTEND and Cybra, who innovative Israeli startups, which presented their technological developments. TAU Ventures invests in AI, fintech, cyber, robotics, communication, advanced agriculture and health.
Will you open such an accelerator in Israel as well?
“At the moment the accelerators are all in NATO countries. Speaking hypothetically though, if we include partners in the future, TAU Ventures is the kind of accelerator we would be looking at.”
Article 5 Activation
NATO’s holy grail, the principle at the very heart of its founding treaty, is its Collective Defense Article (Article 5). This means that an attack against one Ally is considered as an attack against all. Yet, while this Article was originally meant in case of a nuclear war with Russia, an emerging question is whether this article would be activated during a cyberattack.
“In the case of Ukraine we had the Viasat attack, which was aimed at Ukraine – getting government communications out of business – but that had a cascading effect into other NATO countries. For examples, there were around 8000 wind turbines in Germany that were affected by this hack. So that was a good example of modern-day cyber warfare. Russia knew that there would most likely be a spillover effect of a targeted attack and did it anyway.
“So this is the world we live in now in cyberspace, a permanently contested space, there is no real distinction between peace, crisis and wartime. In cyber you also have crime organizations, terrorists, state actors and more. This is a very mirky terrain, and so we adopted our Article 5 statement on cyber.
“We realized that the next cyberattack might not be this one huge big bang…not a nuclear scenario – it might just be a very long-running, malicious cyber campaign that does strategic damage nonetheless.
“Now, Article 5 is not black and white. One nation that invokes Article 5 – there has to be full consensus from all the nations”, explains van Weel. This is why we went into Afghanistan, to support the US in response to 9/11. We all know that Article 5 is the holy grail, and if you Article 5 you erode the whole alliance, because that’s what it’s meant for.”
When it comes to sharing information among NATO Allies, van Weel makes a distinction between intelligence and cyber. “’Sharing is caring’ doesn’t count in the intelligence community, it is on a need-to-know basis,” he says, “Whilst in the world of trying to maintain damage at the lowest possible level, you need to share, and we see more of that happen, including zero-days.
“We’re also increasing our ties with industries, because what we saw now, for example, during the war in Ukraine, is that a lot of the initial information on the attacks was being seen by companies. So we need to cooperate.”
Hybrid warfare
NATO’s main threat is Russia, which is viewed as a global leader in the war of information. The Kremlin is known for resorting to any and all means for psychological manipulation on massive crowds using various media outlets.
“We monitor, with the use of AI what is happening on world platforms, how NATO is being perceived. For example, since the invasion of Ukraine we’ve been noticing spikes of disinformation – for example on the Nazis in Ukraine – going up steeply. And then the question is how do you counter this.
“Speed is of the essence, becuase if you let false information linger, it finds its way out. But it’s not only classification (that gets in the way), it’s that truth takes time – and a lie, or disinformation, doesn’t have to be true,” van Weel explains.
“So we have parties whose main aim is to make sure that we don’t believe in anything anymore. We want to maintain the public’s trust in what we communicate. So if we make a misstep once, then we lose the trust of our population. There’s a Dutch saying of “Trust comes by foot but it leaves by horse”. This is the risk that we run – we have to be right every time.
“You can imagine that the Russian narrative against NATO cannot always be countered by NATO, because those who believe the Russian narrative will not always believe our counter-narrative. We have to live with the fact that in open societies, there will be a percentage of people who are susceptible to campaigns that are anti-government, anti-institution, just because it appeals to their higher belief that the government is not working in their interest. Countries like Russia know how to reach these people.”
Energy security
Mr. van Weel explains that NATO’s mandate as far as energy is concerned, is guaranteeing that European armies have enough energy to operate effectively when facing a military threat. “We look at energy as an enabler for our military forces. We’re looking at whether we have a proper infrastructure in place, and also who is the provider of that gas. We share this information with the EU and the other nations.
“I think that we all agree now that we have to move away from Russia fossil fuel and gas. At the same time, we all know that there’s an energy transition from fossil fuels. So we have a short-term issue and a long-term issue.
“In the short term, the question is how do we get our storages full enough, how can we ensure that we have enough supply as populations but also from the military point of view. In the long term, it is about the energy transition away from fossil fuels and what will be the role of the military. Because the military will also move away from fossil fuel.
“Nobody knows what the energy needs will look like in the future. Most likely, we will have hydrogen for the heavier equipment. So if that becomes the norm, the military will have to move into that direction as well – otherwise you will have your separate infrastructure from the civilian, which becomes trouble. It’s very expensive to have your own refineries and stations. “I think that diversification is key, not being dependent on one type of energy, on one supplier.”
Future technologies
Mr. van Weel explains that NATO also addresses future technologies and how they would best be implemented in the battlefield. He notes “data, AI, autonomy, quantum computing, biotech, human engineering” – some of which are already in use, while others are around the corner.
One of NATO’s concerns , until recently, is that US and European engineers are less keen on working on military projects, fearing that the very technologies they will develop might be use NATO for unethical actions.
“I think that Mr. Putin has changed that, has created a bridge into realizing that you need your own defense systems, based on your own values, to defend against those who don’t share your values, which can literally ruin your life. But we also need to create trust by showing that we are responsible users of technology,” explains the Assistant Secretary General.
“So when I talk about AI and autonomy, the immediate reaction for some is killer robots that will kill us all based on facial recognition and AI – but that’s not what we do, that’s not how we want to use technology.”
NATO’s handling of future technologies is concentrated under a special program called Emerging and Disruptive Technologies, or EDT. It is a specific think tank whose goal is to publish usage strategies for all such technologies. Van Weel provides an example of the AI strategy EDT created, noting it is unclassified and available to the public.
“We have principles of responsible use, what we want to adhere to. It needs to be lawful, unbiased. That’s a way of showing to the developers that we need that we are actually the good guys, and that it’s probably better to work for us than for a Chinese telecommunication company, which is what they do now.”
Climate change
Fire, flooding, migration and other natural phenomena could have a deep effect on NATO, should European military forces need to respond. In addition, phenomena like sand storms in Iraq
Interrupt NATO’s activities in the region.
“We need to be aware of this in regards to the future,” explains van Weel. “What will be the economic future of the Middle East if we transition away from fossil fuels? Some economies are very highly dependent on that for their existence.
“The second part is adaptation. We are going to run into more extreme temperatures, operate in harsher climates, we need to adapt our forces. And the third force is mitigation – what we are doing ourselves to reduce our greenhouse gases. We can’t compromise on military effectiveness, but the same way we now see electric cars with better results than those running on fossil fuel, I’m pretty sure that the military will go in the same flow.
“We are trying to encourage our nations to put more effort into green tech, innovation. The DIANA accelerator program will have ‘green’ as one of its founding principles, and our innovation fund will also have a focus on green technology.”
Israel and NATO
Israel is not a NATO member, but cooperates with it on various levels. “Israel is a very valued partner. All of our partners are valued, but some are different than others,” says van Weel. “The reason I’m here – if you look at innovation, cyber, counter-terrorism hybrid warfare – there is a lot of knowledge and expertise here, in Israel, that is to the mutual benefit of exchanging information and cooperating on.
“We have a long-standing cooperation in the field of cyber between NATO and Israel, the same goes for counter-terrorism. I’m also here to talk about NATO’s new innovation and see how we can cooperate there in the future.
“These fields are about taking your values into how you operate militarily, and if we are with more countries that share these values and can shape the future, it’s better than if the other side makes up the rules for us.”
