Yossi Sariel

Yossi Sariel (Hebrew: יוסי שריאל; born in 1978) is an Israel Defense Forces officer. He was the commander of Unit 8200. In 2018, he was awarded the Israel Security Award for an artificial intelligence project and an anti-terrorism project.

Yossi Sariel
Native name	יוסי שריאל
Born	1978 (1978) (age 47) Haifa, Israel
Allegiance	Israel
Branch	Israel Defense Forces
Years of service	1997–present
Rank	Brigadier General
Commands	Unit 8200
Awards	Israel Security Award

Military Career

He was born in 1978 and grew up in Haifa. He enlisted in the IDF Intelligence Division in 1997 and served as an intelligence and cyber officer in Unit 8200. Then as an intelligence officer in Division 91, head of the northern arena in the research division, an intelligence officer of the Central Command, and the head of the operational division at Aman.

On 28 February 2021, he was appointed commander of Unit 8200 in place of Brigadier General Asaf Khochan who retired. He also served in this position during the Gaza war until his resignation on 12 September 2024.^[1][2][3]

Book authorship and identification

In 2021, the Success Association published the diary of the director general of the Ministry of Housing, in which he wrote that he met with "Commander of 8200 - Yossi Sariel".^[4]

In May 2021, Sariel published the electronic book The Human-Machine Team under the pen name, Brigadier General YS. In the book, he presented his point of view on artificial intelligence and its ability to change the relationship between personnel and machines in the army.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10]}

Sariel's identity was confidential, but on 5 April 2024 The Guardian revealed that for years Sariel had public accounts on social networks in which he disclosed his name and rank, as well as an account on the Hebrew Wikipedia under his full name.^[7][11][12]