SCOPUS 2017

HUJI in the Field
Talpiot
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
THE MILITARY’S MOST ELITE PROGRAM IS DRIVING
CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS
When it was first inaugurated
in 1979, the Israel Defense
Force’s new top level military
program was so secret that even many
of its early recruits did not fully grasp
the enormity of its potential. Today,
Talpiot is one of the most elite military
programs worldwide, harnessing the
human creativity of the country’s most
brilliant minds to create cutting-edge
technologies for the IDF. Conceived by
Hebrew University professors, Felix
Dothan and Shaul Yatziv after the Yom
Kippur War revealed painful gaps in
the IDF’s military technology, Talpiot
is located on Hebrew University’s
Edmond J. Safra Campus, which
provides the educational infrastructure
for the program.
Today Talpiot is administered by
MAFAT (The IDF Administration
for the Development of Weapons and
Technological Infrastructure), and the
Israeli Air Force with its academic
studies managed through the Hebrew
University. Each recruit must major
in either math, physics or computer
science—mastering highly complex
topics in just three years as opposed
to the four years given to traditional
students. “HU has the best math faculty
in the world and offers the best package
when it comes to teaching all three
majors, which is why our cadets study
here,” says T, a graduate of Talpiot and
the current Chief Instructor. (T is still
on active duty and cannot be identified
by name).
From the beginning of the program,
the founders of Talpiot wanted to
ensure that its cadets were an army
unit, not merely students in the
army, so cadets undergo rigorous
military training starting with basic
training in the paratrooper unit and
then participating in field training
designed to familiarize them with all
the branches of the IDF including the
armored corps, artillery corps, the
navy and the engineering corps. “It is
important for them to understand what
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