Image: Screenshot from the author’s FTTH Israel blog on Israblog, published in June 2006, promoting fiber-optic infrastructure in Israel.

From Israblog to the Battlefield: Israel’s Fiber Optic Revolution.

As Israel now faces drones connected by fiber-optic cables — a technology capable of challenging even the “Startup Nation” — I was reminded of something I wrote nearly 20 years ago.

In June 2006, I published my very first post on the old Israblog platform. Its purpose was to draw public attention to what at the time sounded almost like science fiction in Israel: broadband communication through fiber-optic infrastructure.

To promote the idea, I launched a blog called FTTH Israel — Fiber To The Home Israel — dedicated to raising awareness about bringing fiber optics directly into Israeli homes and businesses.

Back then, I wrote that fiber optics would allow someone to live in Mitzpe Ramon while feeling as if they were working from New York, thanks to communication moving at the speed of light.

When I wrote those words almost two decades ago, much of the world was already advancing rapidly in telecommunications, while Israel’s market was still moving at a painfully slow pace.

I could not have imagined how many bureaucratic battles and delays Israel would go through on its path toward the technological front line.

I remember well how the city of Modiin — already built with fiber-optic infrastructure — refused to activate broadband services for residents because officials feared it would create pressure to deploy similar infrastructure nationwide.

Even at the municipal level, many decision-makers failed to understand that whenever roads are opened for construction, fiber-optic infrastructure should be laid simultaneously. Otherwise, reopening roads later becomes expensive, disruptive, and frustrating for the public.

At one point, senior officials from the Tel Aviv municipality visited Vienna, then considered a European pioneer in fiber optics. Engineers there had even developed technology for deploying fiber cables through sewage systems — without digging roads, disrupting traffic, or creating major disturbances.

But in Israel, the response we received was simple:

Fiber-optic cables could not be installed through municipal sewage infrastructure.

Only in recent years has Israel truly begun reaching large-scale fiber-to-the-home deployment — a technology that had already become standard decades ago in Tokyo, Seoul, and Beijing.

Today, it is almost impossible to imagine modern life without that infrastructure.

Artificial intelligence, remote work, Zoom calls, global television broadcasting, online education, streaming services, and real-time international performances all rely on fiber-optic networks.

So does the modern battlefield.

The technology that once seemed like a futuristic dream for telecommunications enthusiasts has become part of the infrastructure underpinning the economy, society, and security of the 21st century.

And it all started with a small Israblog post in June 2006.

Rafi Glick is a writer, lecturer, farmer, and business executive with decades of experience at the intersection of academia, technology, agriculture, and international trade.
• He has served as a Senior Teaching Associate at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Ono Academic College, Ariel University, Ruppin Academic Center, and as a guest lecturer at Sofia University’s Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (FEBA). At Ben-Gurion University he also advised the BGU–NHSA Accelerator in the Faculty of Science.
• In business, Rafi was CEO of Bidsnet Ltd., a pioneer in deploying fiber-optic cables through unconventional infrastructure (in partnership with CableRunner), delivering high-speed connectivity to homes, enterprises, institutions, and cellular networks. Earlier he held senior roles at ECI Telecom and served on the board of RLF Venture Capital, working with partners such as Intel, Teva, and the Jerusalem Development Authority.
• He contributed extensively to Israel’s trade and investment ecosystem: he directed industrial and agricultural technology divisions at the Israel Export Institute, founded Israel’s AGRITECH as international exhibition, and served on the board of the Israeli Investment Center at the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
• In his early career, Rafi established and served as the first director of the Cargo and Aircraft Supply Security Department in the Security Division at Ben-Gurion Airport (1972–1976). He lived in Kibbutz Parod until 1974.
• Rafi has also been recognized for his writing: in 2008 he was named Best Economic Blogger by TheMarker, Israel’s leading business daily.
• Today he continues to publish essays and commentary—with a special passion for astrophysics, space exploration, technology, economics, and social issues.
From Kibbutz Parod to the global stage, Rafi Glick’s career reflects a lifelong commitment to building connections—between people, industries, and ideas.
Email: rafi.glick@gmail.com